Posted November 1998

UNFPA/FAO project INT/94/P40
Planning for integrating community forestry
and population issues

Community Forestry and Population Issues: Four Case Studies

Introduction

Project background

Long term objective of the Project

Short term objectives

1. Developing potential strategies for the integration of population dynamics in forestry planning and programming at the intermediate and community levels in two countries in Asia and one country each in Africa, Latin America and the Near East.
2. Devising the necessary interdisciplinary analytical tools needed to incorporate demographic concerns in planning and managing of community forestry programmes.
3. Designing a series of action research activities to test the above planning tools in a number of forest dependent communities in the five countries.
4. Applying project experiences to develop necessary curricula and training approaches to integrate the above tools and techniques in formal agricultural/forestry training programmes and in non formal forestry extension practices.

Participating institutions

• Centro de Estudios de Población, Universidad Mayor de San Simón, Bolivia;
• Makerere University, Uganda;
• Mahidol University, Thailand;
• New Era, Nepal;
• Center for the Study of Institutions, Population and Environmental Change, Indiana University.

First Project Task Force Meeting, Bangkok, Thailand, 1996

1. Discuss findings, different experiences and lessons learnt during the field activities in the four participating countries.
2. Devise the inter disciplinary, analytical and participatory tools needed to incorporate demographic dynamics into planning and managing community forestry programmes.
3. Define future activities.

Further, participants agreed on the following expected outputs of the project.

1. Develop a framework for data collection and analysis to help integrate population dynamics into community forestry planning, monitoring and evaluation.
2. Write an international "resource book" that:
   • presents an interdisciplinary analytical tool for incorporating demographic concerns in planning and managing community forestry programmes (i.e. framework, data collection and analysis tools, as well as participatory methods);
   • is based on actual strategies for integrating population factors into forestry planning and programming (country case studies);
   • presents action research activities to test the tools in several forest-dependent communities in the four countries (next step of the project);
   • applies project experiences to recommend appropriate policy, planning, training, and community-based action approaches which could potentially be incorporated into agricultural/forestry and population training programmes.

Second Project Task Force Meeting, Rome, Italy, 1998

• Identify lessons learnt and emerging issues gleaned from country experiences, and data collected using the framework.
• Identify gaps not yet addressed in the design of studies and make recommendations.
• Determine the scope and nature of the final project output and future course of action.

Discussions included the following topics:

• Presentation of Country Studies:
  • Lessons learnt
  • Country level analysis of forest management decision-making, including:
    • Who develops forest management plans?
    • What are the roles of these individuals and groups?
    • What messages from the case studies are important for these decision-makers to know?
  • How should these messages be presented?
• Country-specific recommendations were made for:
  • Research
  • Training
  • Follow-up Activities
• Experiences from this project including:
  • Broad lessons learnt across countries
  • Strengths and weaknesses of the framework used
• Recommendations regarding the project:
  • The final output
  • Future project activities

Country experiences

1. Bolivia - population and natural resources

The Tropical Cochabamba region is 2 450 000 hectares, and is located in the north-east of the Department of Cochabamba. Its territory is composed of the tropical part of the Carrasco and Tiraque provinces and a large part of the Chapare province. The case study was based on two different zones "Colonia 25 de abril" and " Colonia 16 de julio", which is next to the Carrasco National Park (National Reserve). The population of Tropical Carrasco grew at an average rate of 7.2 percent during the period 1976-1992 (45,312 inhabitants in 1992). The high population growth is explained by in-migration due to the profitability of coca leaf cultivation.

In Bolivia public funds are distributed to the communities on the basis of population density and the needs of the community. In the Tropical region, the average plot size is 20 hectares. Of this area, half is reserved for crops (and housing). The other half is preserved. At first there was competition between coca production and forest preservation, now there is competition from livestock production. The production of coca is now illegal, but it is believed that it is produced elsewhere and not on the home plot. This also has an impact on the forest as land is cleared. Settlers are generally from other areas, and have moved as a result of economic conditions.

Findings

• The study was based on short-term observations. Over the longer term, rural communities' use of their natural resources may change as a result of economic, social, political and environmental circumstances. Recently, the rate of these changes has increased due to changes at the national and international level.
• In the tropical area, lands have been used for farming and coca production, especially during the in-migration phase of the community.
• Farming and coca production hinder the implementation of community forestry because of the longer-term commitment and the investment of funds. It is also believed that community forestry may mean the neglect of the traditional means of production and, therefore, of the means of family support. It is also believed that community forestry will mean less land will be available for agriculture.
• Rural people from the tropical areas are much more interested in traditional cropping and coca production which implies higher incomes for their families. They basically use the forest for construction, timber and fuel wood. There is no marketing system of non timber forest products, due to the lack of infrastructure and market facilities close to those communities.
• In Bolivia it had been found that the relationships between the different population variables used could not be drawn as defined in the framework. The framework is to be used to help separate broad categories and, then, help in the collection of data. It was discovered that the process of obtaining information has to do with the relationship of variables. The framework is a guide that has to be used in the social and cultural context existing within the country, and then implemented at the local level.
• The complexity of the multiple inter-relationships that make up forestry resources must also incorporate an understanding of the importance, at the international level, of coca leaf production and its impact upon the tropic agrarian economy. Community forestry planning should be considered within the integral framework of a social and economic development planning.

Recommended action

• It is a priority to undertake awareness raising in the rural communities on the potential and alternate use of the forest and its products. Studies should also be made on soil characteristics in each community and in relation to the scope of present practices.
• Each municipality has a planning department, foresters of this department should give technical support in the development of management plans.
• The foresters must give technical support in the elaboration of the management forest plans. They must know enough information to understand the implication of the relationship between population variables and natural resources.
• Communities should create their own communal development policies using these guidelines:
  • Forest and farming producers associations' policies to encourage group development of training, counselling, and loan access.
  • Developmental policies for municipal development instances and "sindicatos" to achieve the benefits inherent in the popular participation law.
  • Diversification policies for farming, cattle and forestry production, aimed at leading producers' associations in the introduction of species adapted to the type and quality of the local soils.
  • Policies to create awareness of the scope and possibilities of community forestry, and to introduce these techniques for the maintenance and exploitation of present forest resources.

2. Nepal

Background. Community forestry as an initiative of the government in Nepal, started in the 1970s and been relatively successful. Most necessary legal provisions are now in place, and it is now implemented nation wide as a participatory natural resource management programme. Nepal has:

• Total forest area: 5.5 million hectares or 37 percent of the country.
• Sixty-one percent of total forest area is deemed potential community forest area.
• By 1997 over 12 percent of potential community forest area or about 400 000 hectares was handed over to communities.
• At present there are more than 7000 registered Forest User Groups (FUGs) with several thousands more awaiting registration.

Study area

Two FUGs were selected in each of two districts identified in each of the two physiographic zones in Nepal: Hills physiographic zone: Lalitpur district, which has predominantly old settlements; Terai (plains) physiographic zone: Dang district, which has predominantly recent hill-migrant settlements.

Perspective

• Improving forest management means improving the management capability of the FUGs.
• Although, a relatively successful programme, the full potential for community forestry to improve the quality of life of all groups in communities has not yet been realised.
• This study was carried out with the assumption that integration of demographic concerns in community forestry can significantly improve management plans for the forests concerned.
• Integration of demographic concerns in the community forestry can also lead to more responsible population-related decisions by communities or individuals, thus further contributing to the improvement of the well-being of FUGs.

Findings

• Absence of population concerns in development plans as well as in forestry planning and implementation at community level.
• Sub-optimal forest management, oriented wholly towards protection.
• Inequitable distribution of benefits between segments of the population in communities.
• Alternatives not considered either in terms of reducing forest dependence or devising ways to address genuine needs of minorities.
• Women totally ignored, virtually no participation in these cases.
• FUGs are dominated by local elites.
• take no account of population variables.
• Forestry training ignores population issues.
• Socio-cultural variables (e.g., occupation patterns, institutions) more important than technical demographic variables.
• Framework for eliciting demographic information needs to be simplified and reduced for local level use due to: low literacy level of community members; low level of training and heavy workload of community forestry workers, and limited resources of District Forestry Office.
• Forest Management Plans (FMPs) are too much forest protection-oriented, less to welfare of all people in the community.
• Communities can and do take decisions concerning their well-being based on information available.

Key points discussed

• Information should focus on socio-demographic occupation patterns which are included in the present framework, and there should be more focus on the interaction of people with forests.
• Although the presentation was based on two areas having four user groups, the application of the framework is general. The usefulness of age structure as a variable was questioned. A forester should know variables like population size, growth and migration. Although it is important for the forester to know the structure of the population in relation to forest management issues, help or even special training would be needed in relating the information to the creation of the forestry plan. More importantly, foresters need to know land use patterns and water management.
• The implications of the demographic variables are important, but more training is required in their interpretation. Training materials (on use of the framework) should have a core message for the high and mid-level and be adaptable to the local level.

Recommended action

• Identification of appropriate demographic information.
• Hands-on, practical, step-by-step operation manuals for collection and analysis of demographic information for incorporation into the management plans.
• Development of training manual and materials for Forest User Committees and Community Forest Workers.
• Incorporation of these materials into existing training programmes.
• Advocacy to decision makers. Development of advocacy materials and methods.
• To enable communities to take better decisions regarding forest management plans easily and understandable, collectable and usable information on population needs and productive capacity of the forest should be made available.
• Through regulations, guidelines (these should refer to collection and use of population information), sensitisation workshop (for policy makers), and training programs, messages regarding integration of population issues into forestry plans should be conveyed.

The following should be undertaken by the Nepal team:

• Sensitisation workshop for policy makers and community forestry project staff.
• Dissemination of findings and tools to the forest users.
• Implementation of recommendations in a few selected sites. (Action/Operation research).
• Development of training programs and materials for various stakeholders based on job/task and analysis of the gaps to incorporate existing training or new training.
• Study of impact of empowering and participatory process in communities on population dynamics.
• Formulation of a Task Force for implementation of the above tasks composed of:
  • UNFPA
  • Professional groups (New ERA etc.)
  • FTPP/WATCH
  • Ministry/Department of Forests
  • Community Forestry Projects
  • Institute of Forestry
  • FECOFUN (Federation of Community Forestry User Group Network)
• Publishing of monograph as a country case study.

Study 2: "Coping with Changes in Population and in Forest Resources: Institutional Mediation in the Middle Hills of Nepal"

Background. This study examines the relationship between the governance of forest resources and population in 18 locations in the middle hills of Nepal. Specifically, it investigates the significance of local institutions in forest resource management to gain a better understanding of how such institutions shape the actions of individuals at the community level. By focusing on local institutions, this study becomes less concerned with what or who is the agent of environmental degradation than with what has helped forest users to cope with environmental and population change.

Some preliminary comparisons made between population growth and the trend in forest condition show that we are unable to make an association in a meaningful way between population growth and forest condition. These figures also show that there can be considerable variation from place to place in demographic characteristics across a physiographic zone. Over 65 percent of improving forests are seen in locations with above average population growth and over 55 percent of worsening forests are seen in locations with below average population growth.

This comparison illustrates a simple point: explanations of forest condition which rely primarily on population pressure may be too simplistic. The entire range of forest conditions can be seen to be associated with high or low values of demographic indicators. Demographic variables by themselves do not appear to explain forest condition satisfactorily. Two pertinent questions emerge from this finding: (a) how is it that some forests are in better condition in locations where population growth and population density per unit area of forest is high? And (b) how is it that locations with low population growth and density have deteriorating forests?

Another comparison shows the association of trend in forest condition with degree of collective activity which indicates the extent to which local residents have organised themselves to manage forest use. A high level of collective activity related to forest management is seen in 83 percent of all forests that are improving in condition. In 86 percent of locations where forests were found to be deteriorating, there was little or no collective activity being undertaken by the local community. In the majority of locations where the forest resource was seen to be neither deteriorating nor improving, i.e. stable, the users were engaged in at least moderate collective action. For almost all of the locations in this study, the level of collective activity undertaken by users is found to be positively associated with forest condition.

Findings

• The variation in population growth rates across the locations studied had almost no discernible pattern of association with variation in condition of forests in those locations.
• There is a strong association of collective action among users with variation in forest conditions across the 18 locations studied.
• Where users were unable to define the extent of forest boundaries or the number of users in a group clearly, the ambiguity allowed opportunistic individuals to encroach upon land.
• The most important form of user participation was the level of investment by the group in monitoring and protecting activities. Investment in monitoring, in particular, appeared to explain the difference between a flourishing resource and one just able to meet the needs of users.
• Much of the literature on collective action has discussed the negative association between group size and collective action. Yet, large groups with a single FUG structure tend to create subgroups as a way to deal with the increase in complexity of tasks.
• One group has also actively pursued the objective of increasing the area of forest they use by soliciting the membership of neighbouring villages who, then, attach their adjacent forest lands to that of the group.
• Arranging for regular interactions between users, other villagers, and external parties in positions of authority and influence had the effect of reducing suspicion, facilitating information diffusion and raising awareness throughout the area, and garnering public support for management and conservation ideas. A breakdown in community relations and an undermining of collective organization and action was seen where the public was divided in its opinion (due to kinship and economic ties) and no third party was available (or interested) in mediating the conflict.

Direction and points of emphasis in policy research and application

The recognition of the mediating effects of local institutional arrangements in the population-environment dynamic has important ramifications for those who seek to support community forestry and, generally, a more participatory approach to governing natural resources:

• Facilitating institutional arrangements that allow users to adapt to changes in circumstance, to innovate, and to negotiate arrangements with other entities is important. Crafting rule systems that go beyond granting autonomy in just operational decision making enable users to make decisions without fear of over-stepping jurisdictional boundaries of local government offices.
• Working with villagers to identify bonafide forest users and to demarcate forest boundaries to the satisfaction of users helps prevent free-riding and encroachment which, in turn, affects the future of co-operation among villagers and between villagers and outsiders, and, ultimately, the state of the resource.
• Helping to set up a self-organised monitoring system for forests is critical for the survival of smaller, poorer groups of users. This can involve financially supporting forest guards hired from the user community for a period of time until the group evolves to a stronger form.
• Facilitating the creation of formal and informal, non-competitive arenas for users, government officials, and non-governmental parties to interact on a regular basis promotes the diffusion of information and knowledge and serves as a forum for airing of grievances and concerns.

3. Thailand - population and community forestry: the case of Northern Thailand

The study community is located in Chiangrai province, Northern Thailand, a total area 11,678 square kilometres formed of three cluster areas: watershed, lowland and upland. The forested area in 1982 and 1993 was 4,839 and 3,991 square kilometres respectively. Over 90 percent of the community's residents grow rice, corn and cassava, while a few families raise cattle. Most villagers currently living in the community migrated from several north-eastern Thai provinces approximately 30 years ago. Now the community contains about 150 families and 772 individuals with males outnumbering females. Out-migration occurred heavily when this area was declared a National Reserved Forest in 1984.

Findings

a - Indigenous concept of "optimum population" and "carrying capacity". The concept of "optimum population" is relevant and recognised by community members. In several instances, community members noted that there is enough space for 3 to 4 families to build houses. However, because there is no more land for cultivation, no more people can move into the community. For community members, therefore, perceptions of optimum population and carrying capacity do not rest on a consideration of population density, rather they relate to the amount of cultivable land available per person or family.

b - In- and out-migration. There were three streams of migration in the research community that influenced the use of land. 1) People moved into the community. 2) People of working-age group moved out to find off -farm jobs. 3) Migrants returning due to being laid off. In the first stage land use patterns were divided into settlements in lowland areas, rice growing in upland areas, and corn growing in highland areas. In the second stage, community resettlement of wetland cultivation expanded, and forest products continued to be the main source of food and income. Land was cleared extensively for cassava plantation. Agricultural production at this time shifted from home consumption to marketing of cassava. However, the benefit was only in the short term, since cassava cultivation led to depleted soils and lower production. In the third period, in addition to the degraded soil and low prices for cassava, there was a rise in environmental consciousness. Government policy changed from resource protection to resource conservation. Stress was placed on utilising a multiple crop system and integrated farming.

c - Household and community survival strategies. Survival strategies existed in the community as demographic responses to intensified land use and changing land ownership patterns. It was also found that the community has established the strategies which include an adoption of community forestry concept and the identification of a deforestation early warning system.

d - Early warning system on deforestation. The residents of this community remember the effects deforestation had on their native north-eastern region that eventually forced them to move to northern Thailand. They have kept watch for several warning signs that help them gauge the deforestation situation in their present community. Such indigenous warning signs, many of which are retrospective in nature, can be summarised as a deforestation early warning system.

e - Interaction between population dynamics and community forestry. The dynamic interplay between population changes and land/forest use was observed. Population change in the community emerged as a function of the relationship between fertility, migration and resource availability. Also important were education and the increasing availability of off-farm employment (for both men and women) which served as "push" factors for migration as well as a means to deal with dwindling amounts of land for inheritance and declines in key natural resources associated with family survival. The particular mechanisms and relationships whereby the community's population increased or decreased affected social and economic organization; family size, structure and organization; residence and inheritance patterns; occupation and educational patterns; and land/forest use. It culminated in a community-wide reflection process where community members (a) reflected on their past, (b) realised their problems and how to identify them using an indigenously understood and developed early warning system, and (c) determining appropriate actions through a community forestry management system. The key to this community's success is this reflection process rooted in their own remembered experiences and activated by socially important prime movers such as community leaders and religious leaders.

Points of emphasis

• Care must be taken that such population growth can easily be misinterpreted as the cause of deforestation when trees are felled to provide additional agricultural land. However, the results of this study indicate that it is not population growth per se that causes deforestation, but, forest concessions, high technology and demand for mono-cash crops.
• While population variables such as fertility and migration are adaptive mechanisms that shape the interplay between population change and environmental resource use, what must be remembered (and communicated in community forestry training programmes) is that they are not always the main causes of environmental degradation. Extra-community forces such as climatic difficulties and, changes in the country's prevailing socio-economic climate emerged as the sparks which ignited the dynamic interplay between population and environmental conditions. The main reasons are: 1) extension and promotion of tourism; 2) use of irrigation for non-agricultural purposes; 3) loss of land due to public projects; and 4) an increase in landed businesses, including the transfer of land from small farmers to large industrial or housing projects.
• Well-intentioned government policies also contributed to the landlessness problem. The Forestry Department, under its National Forestry Policy, for example, aimed to promote commercial tree farms in order to 'green' the country. This included evicting villagers from degraded forest areas. As a result, over 1.2 million peasant families became landless and were forced into the industrialised labour market in order to earn their living and maintain their families.

Key points of discussion

• There seem to be two distinct conflicting groups: those for and those against people's participation in forest management at the local level. The sensitisation approach to each group has to be different. The first group needs to show that people can live in harmony with the forest. At the regional and provincial levels there are people who support community forestry issues but they do not know enough in relation to population and forestry and would need further information. For example the Agricultural Department and the Community Development Department may be in conflict because of their different agendas. That population dynamic is not the major force in deforestation has to be presented so as to prevent the Thai government's closure of forest areas.
• There is only one forestry department and one forestry school in Thailand, and these seem to produce the same type of forester. The third group to be sensitised would then be at the university level: graduate and undergraduate. The curriculum has remained unchanged for ten years, and there is no integration of disciplines. The university lacks the professors who can link forestry and the social sciences.
• Population issues integrated with forest issues should include land use patterns as well as wildlife and watershed management.
• It is necessary to translate population jargon into a terminology understood in the local frame of reference, e.g. to assess how the notions of 'optimum population' and 'carrying capacity' are linked to the forest management plan.

Recommended action

• Further Research by the Thailand team:
  • Resource recovery strategies.
  • Testing and implementation of a deforestation early warning system.
  • Research of Population and environment issues in border communities.
  • Research of return migrants and their impact on land/forestry use.
• Training/Sensitisation:
  • Short course training (two weeks) for Community Forestry workers at the National and the Regional level. (South to South collaboration).
  • Development of sensitisation workshops or seminars for policy makers.
• Publication:
  • Monograph of country study
  • Manual/Protocol of sensitisation training

4. Uganda - effect of population density on forest management and utilisation

Uganda has a population of 20 million people on 246,000 square kilometres of land. Communities depend heavily on forest products for energy and that, in turn, puts pressure on the forests. No community forest management exists in Uganda despite a forest cover of 15 000 square kilometres.

Natural resource management in Uganda has focused on overall economic development without actually integrating population issues. No hard data exists on natural resource production and consumption in relation to population requirements. This has lead to a great disparity between the distribution of population and natural resources - especially forest resources. For this country study, four regions were selected with contrasting characteristics; high versus low population density and more versus less forest resources.

Findings

• Land and tree tenure has a significant impact on community forestry. Short term tenure, e.g. land borrowing, discourages tree planting. Migrants and women, therefore, are less likely to plant trees as most of them lack ownership rights.
• Population increase does not necessarily mean loss of forest cover or forest degradation. Shortage of forest resources acts as an incentive for the community to plant trees for both subsistence and economic benefits.
• Size of land holding: Households with large land holdings are more likely to plant trees as they are not under pressure for agricultural land. Fragmented land holding was also found to favour tree planting. Degraded land and those located at a distance from the homesteads are more likely to be planted with trees.
• Economic status of communities: Households with disposable income are more likely to engage in tree planting for economic gain. Tree planting for livelihood is now one of the strategies adopted by relatively wealthy farmers in Kabale and Mukono districts. Tree planting is usually not a priority in communities. Other pressing issues include household survival, health, education and infrastructure.
• Local participation in forest management: In Mukono and Masindi districts, where there are a large estates containing natural forests, communities are eager to participate in the management of forest resources in order to increase the direct benefits from these resources. In most cases, lessons learnt at the local level explain the over-all national trend of local participation. Specifically, economic benefits and increased awareness, due to sensitisation at both national and local level by government institutions, non-government organizations and NEMA (National Environment Management Authority) have contributed to this trend.

Implications for policy

• Land tenure reform is a must to give communities security of tenure which, in turn, will encourage them to plant trees. At present, the land tenure debate advocates the empowerment of women, legal protection of their property ownership and inheritance rights. This would greatly encourage women to plant trees on private land.
• There is a need to develop a framework to integrate environmental concern and population in development policies. Some institutional policies are in place, although, they are not being implemented.

Lessons learnt from the project

The lessons learnt from the activities of this project can be summarised as follows.

• A complex relationship exists between population dynamics and community forestry. Increased population does not necessarily mean increased deforestation.
• Historical trends and events have to be considered in order to understand the relationship between population and community forestry.
• Focus should be placed on the implications of the interactions between population variables and natural resources.
• External factors come into play when analysing population and community forests such as; markets, management issues, economic factors, level of development and policy intervention.
• Survival strategies exist at the household and community level as responses to population and resource dynamics.
• Existing traditional support systems need to be taken into account when designing and preparing community forestry programmes.
• Community forestry, until now, has focused more on protection of tree resources and does not take into account its implications to inter-related resources such as water, wild life, agriculture.
• A set of indicators needs to be identified for a deforestation early warning system in each locality, in order to have early intervention and better management decisions.
• Institutions and tenure arrangements at the local level (both formal and informal) need to be equally and legally recognised.
• There is room and a need for more interaction between outsiders and local people.
• There is need to simplify research language so that it can be understood and used by local people.
• The concept of 'optimum population' and 'carrying capacity' exist at the local level, outsiders can learn and use this in their research and training.
• Social, cultural and population issues are not adequately addressed in forestry curricula and training.
• Demographers and other social scientists lack an understanding of the interaction between population dynamics and natural resources.
• The degree of forest dependence of a community and ownership affects the community's willingness or interest in forest management.
• Gender and equity issues need to be adequately addressed in community forestry programmes.
• The framework used for data collection and analysis needs to be adapted and simplified for different local settings.
• Training, in the past has relied too much on courses from outside. A systematic needs analysis of training should be made to take the needs of the country into account.