scholarly journals The Type of Land We Want: Exploring the Limits of Community Forestry in Tanzania and Bolivia

2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 1643 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicole Gross-Camp ◽  
Iokine Rodriguez ◽  
Adrian Martin ◽  
Mirna Inturias ◽  
Glory Massao

We explore local people’s perspectives of community forest (CF) on their land in Tanzania and Bolivia. Community forest management is known to improve ecological conditions of forests, but is more variable in its social outcomes. Understanding communities’ experience of community forestry and the potential benefits and burdens its formation may place on a community will likely help in predicting its sustainability as a forest and land management model. Six villages, two in Tanzania and four in Bolivia, were selected based on the presence of community forestry in varying stages. We found that communities were generally supportive of existing community forests but cautious of their expansion. Deeper explorations of this response using ethnographic research methods reveal that an increase in community forest area is associated with increasing opportunity costs and constraints on agricultural land use, but not an increase in benefits. Furthermore, community forests give rise to a series of intra- and inter-community conflicts, often pertaining to the financial benefits stemming from the forests (distribution issues), perceived unfairness and weakness in decision–making processes (procedure/participation), and also tensions over cultural identity issues (recognition). Our findings suggest that communities’ willingness to accept community forests requires a broader consideration of the multifunctional landscape in which it is embedded, as well as an engagement with the justice tensions such an intervention inevitably creates.

2009 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-15 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sushma Bhattarai ◽  
Prakash Kumar Jha ◽  
Niraj Chapagain

In spite of the widely accepted success of Community Forestry in reviving degraded land, it is still seen as being unable to provide tangible benefits to the poor. This paper illustrates that through continuous sharing, deliberation and negotiation among the poor and non?poor members of Community Forest User Groups (CFUGs), management of community forests can be made far more equitable than the usual scenario. Drawing from the experience on the processes and outcomes of Livelihoods and Forestry Programme (LFP), this paper brings empirical evidence of how facilitation support has enabled the poor to have more equitable access to community forests. Three key pro?poor institutional arrangements resulting from the facilitation process include: a) establishing special use rights arrangements within CFUGs for the poor, b) pro?poor silvicultural practices, and c) equitable forest product and benefit distribution mechanisms. The paper suggests some changes in policy and practice to institutionalise these outcomes. Full text is available at the ForestAction websiteDOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.3126/jfl.v8i2.2304 Journal of Forest and Livelihood 8(2) February 2009 pp.1-15


2020 ◽  
Vol 30 (2) ◽  
pp. 59-70
Author(s):  
S. Thapa ◽  
R. Prasai ◽  
R. Pahadi

In spite of policy programs in place, good forest governance does not still persist in community forestry sector of Nepal. This study aims to understand how genderbased leadership affects good forest governance in the two community forest user groups, viz. the Bandeshwori CFUG and the Suryamod Perunge CFUG of Bhaktapur district, Nepal from gender perspective. Both the primary and secondary methods were employed for data collection. The collected data were screened, and analyzed qualitatively and quantitatively. The study compares the individual elements (transparency, accountability and participation) of the governance with the overall governance scenarios between the two community forests. As per the findings of this study, the female leadership was found to be better in forest management by maintaining all aspects of governance as compared to the male. This was because of the higher participation of all the users, regular audit of income and expenditure, accountability of executive committee towards user group, high-level of transparency and predictability. The study concludes that decentralization of power to female, and their active participation in leadership position are needed for maintaining good governance and proper management of community forest.


2019 ◽  
Vol 21 (4) ◽  
pp. 401-415 ◽  
Author(s):  
B. Basnyat ◽  
T. Treue ◽  
R.K. Pokharel

This paper explores the forest bureaucracy's practices of implementing community forest policies in Nepal and how this shapes the realities of community forestry for forest user groups. To this end, we conducted a content analysis of community forest management plans; surveyed 74 community forest user groups; conducted intensive field observation in six community forests and interacted with executive committee members and forest bureaucrats from two western hill districts. Our results show that forest user groups were hardly aware of their formal rights, including the obligations of forest bureaucrats to deliver free-of-charge services and technical support. Nobody holds forest bureaucrats accountable for failing to fulfil this part of their official duties. Rather, the forest bureaucrats have established different legal and extralegal processes and mechanisms through which they regain and maintain control over community forest resources. We call this 'bureaucratic recentralisation', and it allows forest bureaucrats to reap personal benefits, including unofficial revenues for delivering statutorily no-cost services.


2018 ◽  
pp. 104-112 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. Cedamon ◽  
G. Paudel ◽  
M. Basyal ◽  
I. Nuberg ◽  
K. K. Shrestha

There is growing interest by forest users, government forest officers and policy makers on maximising forest goods and livelihood provisions from community forestry in a sustainable manner. However, the way several mature community forests are currently managed based on selection, e.g. negative thinning and crown thinning, is questionable as it results to decline in forest stock, timber quality and regeneration. To assist forest users in managing their community forests, an action research was implemented in Kavre and Lamjung to manage planted Pine (Pinus spp.) and naturally regenerated Sal (Shorea robusta) through selection system. This paper describes the q-factor and its relevance for sustainable community forest management in Nepal. The simple guideline for selection system introduced to 30 community forest users groups in six sites are presented for wider adoption and policy recommendation.Banko JanakariA Journal of Forestry Information for NepalSpecial Issue No. 4, 2018, Page: 104-112 


Author(s):  
Elok Budiningsih ◽  
Harjanto Harjanto ◽  
Yulius Hero

Community forests are a viable alternative for timber suppliers. Community forestry institutions are required to ensure its sustainability. Cooperatives become one of the appropriate alternatives in accordance with the institution at the site level in community forest development. One of the peasant organizations that manages the human resources in the form of cooperatives is a Taman Wijaya Rasa Cooperative (Kostajasa) located in Kebumen. This study aims to analyze the role of Kostajasa in community forest management. The descriptive analysis used in describing the role of Kostajasa in community forest management supporting three community forest subsystems, namely production, processing  and marketing subsystem. Kostajasa has played a good role in all three subsystems. In the production subsystem, there are still less roles in the determination of timber products to be managed, and setting the felling regulation. In the processing subsystem Kostajasa have already play a good role to connect several industries to receive raw materials from farmers’ timber and maintain the demand continuity for raw materials so that farmers’ timber is absorbed. In the marketing subsystem, Kostajasa also play a good role among others, shorten the marketing chain of wood products from community forest and offering a better price outside Kostajasa.


1970 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 46-56 ◽  
Author(s):  
K.P. Acharya ◽  
K.R. Goutam ◽  
B.K. Acharya ◽  
G. Gautam

The Community Forestry has been the most effective means of managing common forest resources in Nepal. Besides rehabilitating degraded hills, improving environment and contributing to the rural livelihoods, community forestry is claimed to be a major means of biodiversity conservation. It is also argued that the prevalent approach of community forest management threats to the conservation of biodiversity. This paper is based on the findings from two community forest user groups from Central Nepal and argues that the users’ innovative practices of active forest management favor biodiversity conservation. The study has documented users’ innovations to conserve biodiversity in community managed forests. Key words: Nepal, community forestry, biodiversity conservation and livelihoods Banko Janakari Vol.16(1) 2006 pp46-56


1998 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
pp. 385-392 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter N. Duinker ◽  
Reino E. Pulkki

In June 1997, we visited the Magnifica Comunità di Fiemme (MCF), a community forest in the Alps of northern Italy. We have prepared this article to help broaden the perspectives of Forestry Chronicle readers on community forests and what they mean in various parts of the world. We first describe the area and its forests, and then give a brief history of the MCF. Then we review the forest-management strategies used in this Norway spruce forest, and summarize the logging and wood-processing activities of the enterprise. We continue with a comparison of this community forest with three community forests in Canada, concluding that generalization on what makes a community forest successful is dangerous — each situation is unique. Finally, given that the MCF recently won permission to use the eco-label of the Forest Stewardship Council (FSC), we discuss our perceptions of how the MCF operation does and does not meet the FSC's Principles and Criteria of Forest Stewardship. Despite several shortcomings, we believe that the MCF is in most respects a sound example of sustainable forest management.


2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 35-55 ◽  
Author(s):  
Dil Khatri ◽  
Gyanu Maskey ◽  
Bikash Adhikari

At a time when community forestry has become a prominent mode of forest governance in many developing countries, REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest degradation) has emerged as a new conservation policy to contribute to climate change mitigation by incentivising such countries to conserve forest. While the proponents of REDD+ claim that it can help to strengthen decentralised forest governance through an increased flow of resources of fund and knowledge, the critics evince that there are negative consequences of REDD+ implementation to the decentralisation process, local control, and access to forests. Drawing on the ongoing engagement of the authors in the national REDD+ policy process and an ethnographic study of the REDD+ initiatives in Nepal, this paper demonstrates that REDD+ might paralyze Nepal’s long-standing community forestry policy rather than strengthening it. Findings show the instrumental use of participation in REDD+ policy development and limited representation of local voices in the policy processes. The piloting project implemented on community forestry suggest that REDD+, if implemented at full scale, can put new demand(s) to the long-standing community forestry policy and practices resulting in threatening of local uses of forests by smallholders. The implementation of REDD+ is likely to reshape community forest management practices driven from the priority of generating revenue which in turn undermines the need to manage forests to meet diverse needs of the smallholders. This analysis indicates the need for paying greater attention to represent local voices in developing national policies and programs, and align REDD+ objectives to the core principles of community forest management, local access, and control of forests.


2020 ◽  
Vol 22 (3) ◽  
pp. 323-338 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Mawa ◽  
F. Babweteera ◽  
J.R.S. Tabuti ◽  
D.M. Tumusiime

The last three decades have witnessed shifts in forest governance in favour of more inclusive approaches. In Uganda, two main approaches have been embraced in the forest sector: collaborative forest management and community forest management. However, there is scanty empirical evidence on how the latter has affected the forest condition over time. Using data from two bio-physical surveys (2006 and 2016) and Key Informant Interviews, this study examined changes in vegetation characteristics in two de facto community forests (Ongo and Alimugonza) over a 10-year period. The basal area and stem densities of tree species locally preferred for poles and charcoal declined in both forests due to extractive uses, some of which were illegal. The densities of those preferred for timber increased as a result of their heightened protection by the community members. However, the community members still faced challenges of apprehending rulebreakers due to the high costs involved and their informal recognition as responsible bodies since the two forests have not yet been declared "community forests" as required by law. The gains made by the approach amidst these challenges demonstrate its potential to achieve conservation goals.


2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 14-30
Author(s):  
Nana Rusyana ◽  
Kukuh Murtilaksono ◽  
Omo Rusdiana

Potential Analysis of Community Forests in Supporting Kuningan Regency as a Conservation Regency Kuningan Regency, as one of the conservation regencies in Indonesia, has not been able to produce timber on a large scale because its forest area is dominated by conservation and limited production forest. This has caused the production of timber from the forest area in Kuningan Regency not been able to fulfill market demands. As a result, timber from community forests became an alternative to fulfill those demands. Community forest is forest that grows on land that is burdened with ownership rights of minimum 0.25 ha and canopy cover of minimum 50%, and/or having at least 500 stems/ha in the first year. As the demand for community timber increases, in the long term, the community forest management needs good planning to support the conservation regency policy. Therefore, objectives of this research are (1) to identify the types of community forest timber based on farmers' preferences and the financial feasibility, (2) to analyze land suitability and availability, (3) to analyze the leading commodity, and (4) to suggest the direction of the development regions. Methods of this research are AHP and TOPSIS, financial feasibility calculation (IRR, BC Ratio, NPV), land suitability analysis with matching criteria as well as GIS analysis, LQ, and SSA, together with descriptive analysis. Results showed that the leading types of timber were sengon, mahogany, africa, and teak. All were feasible to be cultivated with the recommended pattern, which was agroforestry. There are 12 districts with community forests as their leading sector, namely Ciawigebang, Cigandamekar, Cimahi, Cipicung, Ciwaru, Darma, Garawangi, Japara, Kramatmulya, Lebakwangi, Luragung, and Nusaherang district. The suggestion for direction of the development regions by type is for the north and east regions to be prioritized for sengon, teak, and africa, while the west and south regions to be prioritized for mahogany.


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