FINANCING THE COSTS OF FORESTRY PRODUCTION: CURRENT STATUS AND WAYS OF DEVELOPMENT

The article analyzes the state of existing forms of financing of modern forestry, considers the procedure for financing activities for forestry and hunting by forestry institutions. It is emphasized that the existing procedure for financing and spending funds does not provide for the commensuration of rental income from the sale of finished products and the tax value of standing timber, does not determine the content of relations in general between forestry and timber industry.In order to strengthen financing of forestry production and forestry costs, it is proposed to change the institutional structure of functioning and to focus efforts on financing forestry activities in production forestry associations. It is also proposed that payments for forest resources, as the main item of forest income, be determined on the basis of a rent approach, taking into account supply and demand. The proposed measures will allow to strengthen the relationship between the economic interests of the two types of activities within the framework of a single organization and at the same time to strengthen the financial basis for the implementation of the main goal of forestry - to increase the productivity and sustainability of forests as an important structural element of the country's national wealth.

Why Do Households Depend on the Forest for Income? Analysis of Factors Influencing Households’ Decision-Making Behaviors

Using survey information of 150 randomly selected households across 21 villages of the forest-rich district of Swat, Pakistan, this study assessed households’ decision-making behaviors in depending on income from nearby forested land using socio-economic attributes. The evidence from the study may aid in making the existing policies be better targeted toward families that depend on the forest for income. Descriptive statistics and econometric techniques such as logit and tobit were used to analyze the data. Respondent households obtained the highest share of their income from off-farm activities (37%) and least from forest activities (16%). Fuelwood constitutes the biggest share (66%) of forest income, followed by medical plants (20%) and fodder (13%). We found that households with more physical assets, more family members working in off-farm jobs, and households earning more income from off-farm jobs were significantly and negatively associated with households’ decision to depend on forest income and total income obtained. We also found that households with less distance to the market and membership to joint forest management committees (JFMCs) were significantly and negatively associated with households’ total income obtained. However, household size was significantly and positively related to households’ decision of forest dependency. The study recommends the creation of off-farm opportunities and inclusion of local people in the management of forests through establishment of JFMCs, particularly for large and poor families.

Forest Income and Rural Livelihoods in West Bengal, India

To what extent forests contribute to rural livelihoods in developing countries? To find a plausible answer for this, this article explores whether inclusion of forest income to rural households’ total income accounts reduces poverty and income inequality, and also enables rural households to cope with shocks. To this end, we conducted household surveys in eight forest-dependent villages in the Indian state of West Bengal between August 2016 and August 2017. Using data from 407 sample households, we measured forest income of a household as the aggregate monetary value of resources extracted solely from forest ecosystem and compared this with other economic activities of the households. We calculated poverty indices and Gini coefficient with and without forest income, and we employed regression and Gini decomposition techniques to assess the safety net role and relative contribution of forest income to reducing rural poverty and inequality when compared to other sources of income. We found that the addition of forest income to household accounts significantly reduces measured poverty and inequality. Besides, the sample households, especially the poor, extract more from forests to cope with severe covariate shocks due to greater income certainty and thus adopt forest-dominated coping strategy in time of shocks and crises. The implication is that forest income needs to sustainably flow to the poor along with the development of better safety nets in forested rural areas in order to improve the forest-based rural livelihoods in developing countries like India. JEL Codes: Q23, Q56, Q57

REVIEW ASSESSMENT OF BIODIVERSITY LOSS OF SUNDARBAN FOREST: HIGHLIGHTS ON CAUSES AND IMPACTS

Sundarban, the world biggest mangrove forest, was announced as a World Heritage in 1997 and Ramsar Site in 2007. It's 62% lies in Bangladesh (Khulna, Bagerhat, Satkhira, Pirojpur, and Barguna Regions) and 38% in India, which become a vanguard for coastal communities. This ecosystem's floral and faunal structure incorporates 334 floral, 300 birds, 120 fish, 35 reptiles, and 32 mammals species. It contributes 41% of the total forest income of Bangladesh. This paper is intended to recognize the significant reasons for biodiversity calamity and its related effects on lives and degradation of the environment. A total of 105 published articles and reports were identified by searching four keywords: degradation, biodiversity, Sundarban, and Bangladesh. By considering the scope, 28 articles and 17 reports were incorporated to satisfy the objectives. The study revealed that the prominent causes of biodiversity loss of Sundarban might be due to intensified shrimp cultivation, increased dependency on forest and illicit felling, changing land use pattern, oil spillage, and pollution, forest fire, improper management practices, plant diseases, tourism activities, upstream withdrawal of river water, salinity intrusion, climate change, and some natural causes. The impacts were the loss of diversity of floral and faunal species subjected to regionally extinct, critically endangered, endangered, vulnerable, near threatened, and least concern condition. Occupational change and deterioration of the quality of life of surrounding communities are identified as impacts. Finally, the study recommended the formulation of a special mangrove forest policy and proper management practices of Sundarban with several environmental protection strategies that should be adopted to conserve this unique ecosystem.

People’s Forest Dependence: A Case Study of Similipal Biosphere Reserve, India

A forest, as a rich ecosystem, is the source of livelihood of a large number of people residing in its fringe areas. Forest dwellers’ dependence on the forest varies across forest zones due to several factors, such as natural features and socio-economic-demographic characteristics of the people in different zones. Using econometric tools, this study evaluates the forest dependence of people residing in and around the Similipal Biosphere Reserve in India, constructs an index, and determines key factors affecting the extent of the forest dependence. The study explores household size and non-forest income as sources of alternative livelihood. Forest-zonal characteristics have significant impact on determining the extent of the forest dependence. People’s forest dependence is likely to be more in the periphery compared to the core zone. Therefore, in any initiative for reducing people’s forest dependence, zone-wise differentiation is needed to ensure sustainable development.

Role of forest provisioning services to local livelihoods: based on relative forest income (RFI) approach in southwest Ethiopia coffee forest

Background This study provides empirical evidence, for the contribution of forest provisioning ecosystem services to the local communities done on the Afromontum rainforest of southwest Ethiopia which is endowed with many Fauna and Flora. The study may give some representative evidence for policy-maker on behalf of conservation of the area. Methodology This study was done with the approach of focus group discussion and in-depth interviews of the rural community in southwest Ethiopia coffee forest. The role of forest provisioning services analysis was made by relative forest income (RFI) procedure based on the stratification category of the local ethnics and newcomers. Results The overall result indicated that seventeen forest provisioning services collected by the community from natural forest, however income were varied in relation to demographic features, the income from forest for local communities shown too high to which contributes 90.85% of the total income and have a long history of the link between this livelihood and forest. While forest also provides a considerable income for the new resettled community coming from elsewhere in the area but we observed non- forest income were the main source of revenue for this community. Conclusions The traditional and the indigenous communities used for access to a finite resource and considered the resource harvested from the forest are the central part of their economy and the relationships between forests and people’s livelihoods particularly for this remote community were complementary. Then planning should take into conceder, in policy perceptive, for supporting this remote community for livelihood improvement and conservation of this natural forest.

Economic Valuation of the Provisioning Services Provided by the Sundarban in Bangladesh

The Sundarban provides various types of resources for an estimated four million people living in and around this mangrove forest in its Bangladesh parts. This study was carried out to quantify the value of forest income in these communities with the aim of understanding the contribution and importance of forest resources to the livelihoods of the poor, and their possible role in poverty alleviation. Eight key different resources such as fish, shrimp fry, crab, fuel-wood, wood for the construction of house and boat, thatching materials, honey and wax were identified in this study and their economic value estimated at US$145.2 million/year. It was also revealed that the households depended on mangrove resources for their livelihoods, with the lower and the middle-income households being heavily dependent. The households belonging to the lowest income group had neither land nor agricultural or livestock resources for generating income, therefore, a greater proportion of their income came from the forest, making them highly dependent on forest resources for survival. Given a population of about 4 million people residing in 17 upazilas (sub-districts) close to the Sundarban Reserve Forest, and their higher dependence on forest resources, sustainable management of the common pool resources provided by the forest is essential for alleviating extreme poverty. Management regimes for the Sundarban Reserve Forest need to be ensured continued access of the local residents to forest resources, especially of those who are the poorest, for sustaining livelihoods. In this regard, co-management of resources could be a pro-poor strategy if it does not compromise the livelihoods of the poorest living in and around the Sundarban.

Typology of Forest Users in West Usambara Tanzania and Implication to Forest Management

The West Usambara landscape is a complex ecosystem in Tanzania known for its rich biodiversity and livelihood support within and beyond its scope. The community dependency on this forest places pressure on its resources, so this forest requires better management strategies. Previous studies on forest conservation ignored details on the heterogeneity of forest users around the forest fringes. Part of the challenge is to understand the characteristics, behavior, and variability of forest users to plan and inform management decisions. This study is an attempt to assess typologies of forest users, their perceptions, and their motivations for understanding better forest management and utilization. The data were collected from 159 randomly sampled households located in four villages bordering the forests, supplemented with focus group discussions and key informant interviews. A factor analysis identified three management and two utilization dimensions, while cluster analysis identified three typologies: high (HFIS), medium (MFIS), and low (LFIS) forest users. The typologies varied in their socioeconomic characteristics, management, and utilization index. The management and utilization index varied from low for HFIS and MFIS to medium for LFIS, indicating a possible difference in resource utilization as well as incentives for management efforts. A multinomial logit indicated further that age, training, and livestock ownership limited upward trends in forest utilization. These findings indicate that, to improve forest management in West Usambara, different management prescriptions are required to respond to the characteristics and variability of forest users (along typologies). Moreover, forest-linked income-generating activities should be encouraged to improve forest income and motivate villagers’ engagement in the forest activities.

Importance, Determinants and Gender Dimensions of Forests for Communities Dawuro Zone, South-West Ethiopia a Case Study of Essera Woreda

Rural households across developing countries rely on diversified sources of income and forest resource play important role in this regard. This study is designed with the objectives of assessing the contribution of forests to annual income of rural households and identifying its determinants with the case of Essera woreda forest in western Ethiopia. It also examined the gender dimensions of forest income and how this income varies with the wealth status of households key informants interview focus group discussion and household based questionnaire survey were used to collect data. On average income from crop production accounted for (40.7%) of the total annual household income. Forest income is second in importance contributing (32.6%), income from livestock off and non-farm activities and woodlots accounted for (13.6%), (11.4%) and (1.7%) of the total household income respectively. Firewood is the most used forest product and constituted the largest proportion (79%) of the total forest income. Forest income is more important for poor households (47.3%) than for medium (30.5%) or rich (20.2%) households. It is also more important for female headed households (58.2%) than for male headed households (29%). The gender dimension of forest income is also important within the household. Female members generated about four times more forest income (77% of the household forest income) than male members (23%). Policy to promote new forest management arrangement such as participatory forest management (PFM) needs to take in to account the major forest users and the types of products they depend on and be accompanied with other poverty reduction measures so that improved forest conservation outcome will not have negative consequences on local livelihoods particularly on poor and women who depend most on the forest.