Factors affecting participation of user group members: comparative studies on two types of community forestry in the Dry Zone, Myanmar

Abstract

Drawing on the example of community forestry in Myanmar's Dry Zone area, this paper conceptualizes and empirically assesses key factors for obtaining the participation of user group members, with emphasis on the implementation stage. More specifically, the study clarifies the commonalities and differences in influential factors between two types of community forestry: agroforestry and natural forest types. Field data were collected by semi-structured interviews with 54 households in four selected user groups, by key informant interviews, by informal interviews, and by direct observations. Our analysis was conducted in accordance with a framework in which selected social/institutional, economic, and physical factors affect participation. The results show that social/institutional factors are the most influential factors in both types, while economic factors are directly related to participation of user groups in the agroforestry type alone. Results indicated that preconditions, such as selection of leaders, should be considered in accordance with the local context in which the people have a shared recognition of what confers legitimacy to leadership. We recommend collaboration of the Forest Department with user group members in providing information regarding the use and selling of forest products from agroforestry-type community forest, as well as frequent communication with user groups to provide incentives regarding property rights stability for future benefits to continue participation of user group members in managing the dry forest.

Keywords:

• Community forestry
• Dry Zone
• Myanmar
• Participation
• User group members

Acknowledgments

First and foremost, thanks are due to all the responsible persons of the Ministry of Forestry in Myanmar, and the Ministry of Education, Science and Culture (Monbukagakusho) in Japan, for allowing this graduate study in Japan. The fieldwork of this research was supported financially by Grant-in-Aid Scientific Research (A) supported by the Government of Japan (No: 1928014, Project leader: Makoto Inoue) and the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO, Ref. 087/08A) to perform field research in the Dry Zone.

Notes

1 The Dry Zone, located in the central part of the country, is 8,724,184 ha comprising three divisions, 13 districts, and 57 townships. The average annual rainfall is 722 mm (28.44 in), which is much lower than the national average of 2,352 mm (92.6 in) while the temperature range is 15–40°C.

2 Myanmar consists of 14 provinces, seven divisions, and seven states. All seven states are more or less mountainous, whilst the divisions are mainly plains with the exception of Sagaing, Bago, and Thaninthayi. Divisions and states are divided into districts, and districts are sub-divided into townships and townships are sub-divided into village-tracts and then villages.

3 Unclassed forests are those forests standing on land at the disposal of the government. They have no strict legal status until declared as protected public forest (PPF) (FREDA 2001).

4 RFs are defined as land for the purposes of production, protection, and local supply as designated under the 1992 Forest Law. RFs and PPFs are lands under FD jurisdiction called Permanent Forest Estate covering 13 million ha of total forest land (34.4 million ha). Among the 13 million ha of forest land, 3.3 million ha are designated as conservation reserves, while the remaining 9.7 million ha are production forest (Zin 2005).

5 Each USG develops its own management plan when applying for CF handover. The plan must include a map of the CF area, a resource inventory, CF management objectives, and management activities to achieve the objectives, including the distribution of benefits. After approval by the district forest officer, management activities such as planting, weeding, fire protection, and pruning set forth in the plan are carried out under the direction of leaders.

6 With respect to community features, community size and heterogeneity are mostly discussed. In this study, there was no significant variation in community size (see in Table 1). People have the same religion, ethnicity, culture and location. The household survey found heterogeneity in private landholding and number of livestock. Nevertheless, these do not appear to influence participation in management activities.

7 Agriculture, livestock, and off-farm income are the major sources of livelihood. Average income per respondent from private farms is $325 and $311 in groups A and B, respectively. As for livestock, 26% of respondents raised goats while 33% raised cows in group A. In group B, 40% raised goats and 40% raised cows (Field Survey).

8 The monastery education tradition in Myanmar emerged in the eleventh century. People learned the “three Rs” of reading, writing and arithmetic, as well as ethics and the Buddhist way of life. Monks are the teachers. But modern monastic schools use the same system of grades, curricula and examinations as state schools with the help of volunteer teachers.