Community Forestry under Conditions of Low Forest Dependence in Sri Lanka. Kanchana Wickramasinghe Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka (IPS)

Transcription

1 Community Forestry under Conditions of Low Forest Dependence in Sri Lanka Kanchana Wickramasinghe (IPS)

2 Forest Management in Sri Lanka Command and control approach since the colonial period More than 98 of the forests are owned and managed by the state Deforestation and forest degradation Lack of community participation

3 Issues in dry and intermediate zone forests Mostly isolated forest patches Deforestation due to expansions in commercial agriculture Threats of encroachment and degradation Forest management in Sri Lanka command and control approach limited community involvement Managing forest patches is a challenge for the Forest Department (FD)

4 Forest products play a minimal role in household economy Income category % contribution to total income Farming income Livestock income 4.16 Off-farm income Forest income 0.04 Income from micro-enterprises 2.84 Total

5 Community Forestry in Sri Lanka Little or no experience before A pilot project implemented by the Sri Lanka Australia Natural Resource Management Project (SLANRMP) in collaboration with the Forest Department Two major goals 1. Forest conservation 2. Contribute to poverty reduction

6 Community Forestry in Sri Lanka Covered 5 districts: Kurunegala, Matale, Anuradhapura, Puttalam and Moneragala Different models were tested in 50 sites in the 5 districts. 1. Initiated by the Project and later handed over to the Forest Department 2. Initiated and implemented by the Forest Department

7 Project Interventions 1. Forest-based activities o Establishment of nurseries o Establishment of plantations o Maintenance of plantations o Establishment of fire line o Maintenance of fire line

8 2. Income support activities o Home gardens development o Dress making o Handicrafts o Paddy farming o Lime drying o Soap making o Dairy o Other livestock o Food processing o Shoe making o Bee keeping o Other micro enterprises Project Interventions

9 Project Interventions 3. Community-based activities o Tank rehabilitation o Village infrastructure Community halls/facilities o Community-based aquaculture o Eco tourism

10 Environmental Benefits Around ha of forest plantations - 15,000 trees planted of various NTFP species Around 49.2 ha of fire lines Around 28.0 ha of live fire belts Reduced number of forest offences o Five year Community Forestry Management Plans (CFMP) of each site

11 Social and Institutional Benefits Commonly enjoyed by the villagers Community Facility Amount Rehabilitation of tanks (No) 07 Community wells (No) 20 Rehabilitation of rural roads (m) 3,800 m Sanitation facilities (toilets No.) 68

12 Social and Institutional Benefits

13 Individual livelihood benefits to community members Significant individual benefits were enjoyed by households due to livelihood and income support activities introduced by the Project. 1. Direct income opportunities for community members through participating CF activities, especially forest based activities (and some community based activities) 2. Micro-enterprises promoted by the Project. Capacity building measures such as training on various livelihood activities, technologies etc.

14 Gender Impacts Female participation is significantly high in project activities Household earnings by females participating in project activities and micro-enterprises are significantly higher than that of earnings by males from the project Female members occupy key positions among office bearers in CBOs and thereby play a prominent role in many CF activities Thus gender impacts of the Project seem to be favourable for female members in the communities, a positive feature of the project.

15 Challenges Low dependence on forest products Lack of incentives for community participation Project introduced income opportunities paid forestbased activities, microenterprises Transforming the role of the FD from administrator to facilitator

16 Future of CF in Sri Lanka Innovative ways of benefiting communities Constraints for FD in allocating staff to carry out community forestry activities due to limited number of ground level officers Lack of adequate skills and experience in coordinating and mobilizing communities. The results indicate that there should be at least few staff dedicated for community forestry, to make it a sustainable venture in the long run.

17 Thank You