Participation of local communities in forest management decision-making has been promoted as a mechanism of improving livelihoods and forest conditions, yet the level of participation in many ...programs remains low. Using data from a cross-sectional survey of 924 forest-dependent households in Western Kenya, we examine the factors that support or constrain forest dependent people's participation in a Participatory Forest Management (PFM) program. We run a probit model to assess households' choice to join PFM and then compute a Participation Index (PI) for forest users' participation across different stages of the PFM program – planning, implementation and Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E). The determinants of participation are then analyzed using the fractional regression approach. Results show that over half (52%) of the respondents participated in PFM. While vulnerability to shocks, being in a farmers' group, a household's access to the forest within the previous 12 months and access to extension were associated with the likelihood of participating in PFM, the influence of the household head's age and education, access to credit and food insecurity had a negative influence. Our results reveal PIs of 41%, 49%, and 42% at the planning, implementation, and M&E stages respectively, indicating a moderate participation level. The fractional regression model shows that transaction costs associated with access to markets, gender (being male), household expenditure and expected forest benefits positively influence household participation in PFM, while the opportunity costs associated with off-farm income, distance to the forest and lack of extension have a negative influence on participation. These results point to the need to take the household context (gender, education, household expenditure and vulnerability) into consideration during planning and implementation of the forestry programs. The implication is that forest authorities should identify and implement mechanisms to enhance benefits from forests but also reduce costs of participation, especially for women.
•Participation of local communities in forest governance can improve forest conditions and livelihoods.•Without community participation these benefits may not be realized.•Understanding the factors which influence local people’s participation can support sustainable forest management.•Attention should focus on benefits local people derive from forests, collective action and awareness on importance of PFM.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
We evaluate the livelihoods of member and non-members of Community Forestry Associations under Kenya's participatory forest management (PFM) programme. We use propensity score matching of households ...based on recall based data from before implementation of PFM from 286 households and comparison of current incomes (2012), as well as review of records and interviews. Results reveal that members have higher total and forest-related incomes than non-members and indicate that impacts derive from labour and market opportunities supported by donor institutions, more than from differential access to forest products. In terms of governance the Kenya Forest Service largely remains in control of decision-making. Thus, PFM resembles Integrated Conservation and Development Project (ICDP) approaches. We conclude that current forest governance approaches in Kenya appear not to support participation in practice. Further, we conclude that impact evaluations must examine both outcomes and participatory forestry to provide meaningful policy evidence.
•Community Forest Association members have significantly higher total and forest-related incomes than non-members•Livelihood impacts derive from labour and market opportunities supported by donor institutions, more than from differential access to forest products.•Poor households experienced reduced relative forest incomes following increased intensity of forest patrolling.•The Kenya Forest Service largely remained in control of decision-making contrary to the intention of the collaborative forest management policy.•Current forest governance approaches in Kenya appear not to support participation in practice.
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GEOZS, IJS, IMTLJ, KILJ, KISLJ, NUK, OILJ, PNG, SAZU, SBCE, SBJE, UL, UM, UPCLJ, UPUK, ZRSKP
This paper presents the results of an inventory of plant communities of the urban forests in Warsaw. It covers the occurrence of forest associations and forest plant communities in individual forest ...complexes. Due to their location within the boundaries of a large urban agglomeration, Warsaw’s city forests are particularly exposed to anthropopressure. The share of various degrees of degeneration and dominant forms of degeneration in individual complexes and over the whole surface under investigation was assessed. Possible causes of the conditions existing in the forests have been discussed; in particular, within the context of the development and use of these forests for tourism and recreation. Particular forests’ distinct historical origins, forestry management, and existing forms of surface protection possess fundamental significance for the determination of their current state.
Forest and water are linked resources that are important to community livelihoods in East Africa. Sectoral reforms in Kenya have decentralized forest and water management functions to local ...communities through forest and water Acts. It has been argued that problems are more likely to be understood as interconnected, and thus managed more holistically, at the local level. Through case studies on the processes of developing forest and water management plans in two Kenyan ecosystems, we explore the challenges and opportunities for resource management planning at the local level. The questions we addressed are: How is the content of the plans determined? How is gender integrated ? What are the barriers to implementation? How can content and implementation be improved to support joint forest and water management? Despite their close links, water and forest governance is separate, as sectoral approaches nationally trickle down locally. We argue that the process of developing the plans should take an integrated landscape approach. A practical way forward is to improve current processes, by ensuring local participation and generating local ownership through improved facilitation and engagement of community members, including women. This includes the integration of community participants from both spheres into both forest and water management planning.
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BFBNIB, GIS, IJS, KISLJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM, UPUK
Abstract
Aims
Persian walnut (Juglans regia L.), an interesting forest species for the veneering industry, requires adequate management to produce valuable high-quality logs. Since species ...associations and management level can improve stand productivity, the novelty of this work was to assess Persian walnut performance in different planting mixtures and in pure plantations conditioned to management intensity.
Methods
Growth, straightness and survival measurements were taken annually for 7 years after planting pure and mixed plantations under two contrasting management scenarios. Diseases were recorded at Age 7 in all plantations. Under each management intensity, besides the monoculture, three mixtures were tested: a mixture of only main forest species, main forest species plus one arboreal companion species, Black alder (Alnus glutinosa L.) and main species plus the shrub Russian olive (Elaeagnus angustifolia L.) as nurse species. A test of interaction between plantation type and management scenario was conducted using repeated growth data.
Important Findings
The interaction was significant, indicating the presence of different mechanisms underlying plantation effects under high and low management level. Compared with pure plantations, Persian walnut associated with the nurse shrub exhibited 78% higher height and 53% higher diameter growth in plantations under low management. Health benefits (lower presence of walnut blight than in the monoculture) and better straightness were also found in the association including the shrub when the management intensity was not high. These beneficial effects in the presence of Russian olive were not present under high management intensity (irrigation, fertilization, tutoring and frequent pruning). Site-specific designs for Persian walnut plantations would depend on the foreseen management intensity.
In Kenya, a Participatory Forest Management (PFM) approach was adopted through formation of Community Forest Associations (CFA) to improve forest cover and their livelihoods as provided for in the ...Forest Act 2005. The main objective of this study was to determine the factors influencing the level of CFA members' participation in PFM activities in selected forests in Kenya. The study was undertaken on the Ontukigo and Ngare Ndare CFAs involved in participatory management of the Ontulili and Ngare Ndare forests respectively, located in the Eastern Conservancy, Buuri Sub County (Meru County) in Kenya. Semi structured questionnaires were administered to randomly selected 80 CFA and 80 Non CFA members. Participatory Rural Appraisal tools, including focused group discussions and community wealth characterization, were used to collect qualitative data for precise description of the quantitative data. The level of participation of CFA members in PFM activities was positively and significantly influenced by the level of perceived PFM benefits (χ
2
= 38.73, P=0.05); range of farm size (χ
2
=12.72, P=0.05); and nature of the head-of-household (χ
2
=29.99, P=0.001). As such, benefits gained from the forest play an important role as incentives to community participation in PFM.
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BFBNIB, GIS, IJS, KISLJ, NUK, PNG, UL, UM, UPUK
A Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA) approach was employed for evaluating and selecting the best management strategy for Mount Kenya Forest Reserve and National Park (MKFRNP). The MCA approach used a set ...of objectives and criteria (O&C) to address the complexity of the decision problem in a transparent and understandable way, which also facilitated the active participation by diverse professionals, experts, and interest groups. The management strategies were developed to fulfill the key components of MKFRNP management and the current situation in the study area. The seven management strategies focused on climate change mitigation, protection of water catchments, education and research, stakeholder involvement, biodiversity conservation, timber production, and community interests. Forest stations with differing fire danger levels (very high, high, moderate, and low) were selected to compare the performance of the management strategies. The strategies were assessed qualitatively on their potential to improve the current situation according to the entire set of O&C. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) was employed to identify the best management strategy according to the overall preferences of all stakeholder groups. The AHP indicated that a strategy focusing on community interests provided the best option to address the current management challenges in all the seven forest stations independently of their fire danger levels. Biodiversity conservation should also be considered by resource managers in order to reduce fire danger and increase the benefits obtained by different stakeholders in MKFRNP.
Multi-level collective actions and institutions play an important role in natural resource governance and rural development; however, the origins and transformations of these institutions have only ...recently begun to receive systematic research attention. To address this gap, we trace and analyse the historical processes driving formation and change of Mexican inter-community forestry associations over time, drawing on survey data and in-depth case studies from two Mexican states, contextualised within the national and international political-economic landscapes over time. While we initially categorise whether an association is grassroots (‘bottoms-up’) or state-mandated (‘top-down’), the fifty-year historical review reveals a contested dynamic over political, economic and technical changes in multi-level commons governance. In this political-economic process, the line between self-organised and top-down is blurred, hybrid and continually evolving on multiple scales, driven by both cooperation and conflict across governance levels from the local to the global, and embedded in broader struggles over land, democratic institutions and market participation. Mexican forestry associations mediate between social movements; member needs such as political representation, economic cooperation and forestry services; conflicting political interest from a diversity of community and non-community actors including foresters, political party leaders and timber corporations; and state mandates and market forces. These findings fill a gap in institutional commons theory and practice, elucidating the political dynamics of polycentric and multi-level governance.
This paper analyzes the local-level impacts of cross-scale linkages in Mexican community forestry by evaluating the operation of four inter-community forest associations (FAs). Based on 1 year of ...fieldwork in Durango, Mexico, the paper focuses on two inter-related issues: (1) the services that each association provides to their member communities and how they impact forest management and the development of communities’ forestry enterprises, and (2) the differences in services and impacts between top-down and bottom-up FAs. The findings show that FAs, as a form of cross-scale linkage, can be crucial for the provision of services, goods and infrastructure related to the protection and enhancement of community forests, the economic development of community enterprises, and the political representation of these communities. At the same time, the study finds important differences between top-down and bottom-up FAs, while pointing to some of the disadvantages of each type of linkage.
The introduction of participatory forestry management (PFM) in Kenya has led to the formation of community forest associations (CFAs). Data collected from 12 forests over a decade indicate that most ...associations are confederating to manage shared forests through the Forests Act of 2005. Emerging findings indicate that associations are responsible for diverse management activities in forest protection, monitoring, and management, yet access to decision-making, revenue streams, and overall resource control rights are vested in the Kenya Forestry Service. Still, this is an improvement as CFAs perform most governance functions autonomously, including the crafting of resource harvesting rules, the choice of leadership, and conflict resolution. In order to balance community incentives with the burdens and responsibilities they bear, rights to revenue streams generated from forest resources must be shared with communities to ensure continued commitment to the PFM process. Furthermore, the viability of CFAs is threatened by power struggles, leadership wrangles, and the splintering of groups. Negotiation support to moderate conflicting interests, and strengthen internal conflict resolution and governance is necessary.
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