Non-timber forest product dependency in the Central Himalayan foot hills

Rural households throughout the Himalayas are regarded as dependent on non-timber forest products (NTFPs), but very few studies have quantified this dependency. This case study, undertaken in two villages in the Central Himalayan foot hills in Nepal, documents the absolute and relative importance of commercial NTFPs to rural household economies. Data were collected in a one-year period and included interviews with 250 households using a semi-structured questionnaire and monthly interviews with four sub-local NTFP traders, two local traders and two central wholesalers. The conservative estimate of NTFP-derived cash income showed this to be a cornerstone in poorer household livelihood strategies and thus in poverty prevention. An annual average of 578 kg of commercial NTFPs was collected in the wild per household, providing poorer households with a cash income share of 44–78%. Better off households are not NTFP dependent but rely on income from crop production and livestock. Based on a net marketing margin analysis, showing that harvesters capture a large share of the Indian wholesaler price, it is argued that there is scope for pursuing NTFP-based strategies for poverty reduction through leasehold forestry and agroforestry. Both these options are compatible with conserving forest cover and forest corridor functions and may thus present a win–win scenario for livelihood improvement and conservation.     

A survey-based evaluation of community-based co-management of forest resources: a case study of Baishuijiang National Natural Reserve in China

Community-based co-management (CBCM) mechanisms for forest management have matured through the development of new economic analysis and common property theory. However, while many local CBCM mechanisms have been initiated in Chinese Natural Reserves, there are few objective, data-based evaluations of whether these mechanisms improve forest conservation and local livelihoods. This research uses Baishuijiang National Natural Reserve (BNNR) as a study case to evaluate China’s current CBCM mechanisms. The evaluation is based mainly on three criteria: efficiency, equality and sustainability of project operation. Survey data indicate that local CBCM mechanisms provide a wide-participation platform for local villagers, associated administration managers, research institutions and NGOs to join in forest resource protection work while improving local livelihood. CBCM projects have also facilitated a reduction in forest resource dependency, the improvement of household income and encouragement of local people to participate in forest resource protection. Our analysis suggests that most CBCM organizations have made progress in efficiency, equity and sustainability. However, further study should focus on how to deal with the lingering problems of inequity in responsibility and rights among CBCM committee members, poor distribution of benefits, insufficient program-design and management expertise, faulty information dissemination, and insufficient capital investment.     

生计资本异质对农户农地流转行为的影响——以武汉城市郊区的516户农民为例

以武汉市城郊江夏区和蔡甸区的516户农民家庭为实证,运用logistic和分位数回归模型探索家庭生计资本对农户土地流转行为的影响及阈值。结果表明:(1)人力资本和金融资本与农户农地转出行为呈显著正向相关,家庭农地资源禀赋、机耕能力、社会资源禀赋及经营能力的信任程度等与农地转出行为负向相关。相反,自然资源禀赋及农业机械投入对农户土地转入行为的正向影响显著,而家庭融资能力则对农户转入行为呈显著的负向影响。(2)分位数回归结果显示,对农户土地流转行为存在影响阈值的仅有韧性指数。当农户家庭韧性指数≤2时,随韧性指数增强农户农地转出倾向愈强;家庭韧性指数≥3时,农户农地转出倾向随指数增强而弱化。该研究从农户微观个体视角探索生计资本异质对农地流转行为的影响,为针对农户家庭需求制定差别化的农地流转政策、有效推进农业适度规模经营提供建议参考。     

Can conservation and development interventions in the Indian Central Himalaya ensure environmental sustainability? A socioecological evaluation

In biodiversity-rich areas, both conservation and socioeconomic development are at the core of discussions among various stakeholders, such as local people, policymakers, conservationists, resource management professionals, economists, researchers/scientists, and so forth. Various innovations are being provided that aim at promoting both improved livelihood for the people and the conservation and management of natural resources in the Central Himalaya of India. Many studies point out the factors responsible for the tremendous decline of natural resources and also how they have affected the local people’s livelihood options. In this context, the current study was undertaken to evaluate the potential of various solutions/innovations that are being implemented in the Himalayas of India. Unfortunately, only a few are found to be successful in both conservation and sustainable livelihood development. This study reveals that people are still looking for more viable solutions that could help them improve their lifestyle, as well as facilitating ecosystem conservation and supporting existing biodiversity. Based on the present study, it is argued that an in-depth empirical study of any region is a necessary process prior to offering solutions to achieve the desired goals, as considered by development agencies and policy-planners.     

农户生计多样性发展阶段研究——基于脆弱性与适应性维度

为了观察农户生计活动复杂化过程,分析弹性在可持续生计中发挥的作用,推动扶贫开发战略从识别贫困人口向防御贫困转变,本文采用曲线拟合、核密度函数非参数估计算法等实证研究方法,利用陕西省安康农户生计与环境调查数据,基于脆弱性、适应性维度对农户生计多样性发展阶段进行了识别、划分,系统分析了弹性在农户、社区不同尺度上、阶段上对于农户生计脆弱性与适应性的作用过程。研究发现:生计多样性发展阶段随尺度有所不同,随着适应性提高,在社区尺度上,生计活动多样性指数先增加后减小,在农户尺度上,则是先减小后增加;农户生计活动存在高脆弱性、低适应性的尝试阶段,在经历了这个阶段之后,伴随着农户适应性的提高,脆弱性会同时增加;在社区尺度上,弹性作用下伴随着收入提高,脆弱性会逐步降低,在农户尺度上,弹性作用下伴随着收入提高,生计活动脆弱性会提高,形成"高风险、高收益"的情况。研究发现说明农户、社区存在着"多样性尝试"发展阶段,在一定尺度上保持适度脆弱性有利于社区、地域的可持续发展,作为联系不同尺度生计活动脆弱性、适应性的关键,农户在这个阶段完成生计多样性水平专业化过程,社区在这个阶段形成地区特色的生计活动。扶贫开发工作应把握好这一时机,提高工作措施效果和绩效。在扶贫开发工作实践中,在目标制定上不仅需要考虑收入因素,还需要考虑生计活动复杂性因素,政策措施充分利用"多样性尝试"发展时机,同时主动开展替代生计研究、落实工作,提高贫困防御能力,推动农户、社区可持续发展。     

Tourism and its impact on livelihood in Manaslu conservation area,Nepal

Tourism is an activity of a person which includes traveling and staying in places that are outside of their location for business, vacation and other purpose. Large-scale tourism in developed and developing countries has positive and negative effects on the regional and national economies, local culture, physical infrastructure and environment. There are considerable gaps in research regarding tourism and livelihood in developing countries like Nepal. This research work aims at fulfilling such gap by assessing the impact of tourism on livelihood in Manaslu conservation area (MCA) of Nepal. We interviewed 76 household followed by three focus group discussions and five key informant interviews. The first-hand information collected at the site is complimented by socioeconomic and tourism-related secondary information. Socioeconomic variables such as marital status, size of household, education and landholding status had positive effect on tourism participation while livestock-holding status and occupation of the household had negative effect on tourism participation. Number of visitors is increasing in MCA in recent years, and tourism participation is helping local people to earn more money and improve their living standard. So, awareness and education related to tourism, gender empowerment of women, advertisement and publicity on tourism promotion, adequate subsidy and training on ecotourism and skill development trainings on handicraft are recommended.     

Adapting to declining fish resources: the differentiation of livelihood systems and fishing strategies in Singkarak Lake’s fishing community,West Sumatra

In Southeast Asia, inland fish resources are crucial for small-scale fishing households. Their decline, due to overfishing and a set of socio-ecological factors, jeopardises aquatic ecosystems and the livelihoods of fishing communities. Singkarak Lake (West Sumatra) exemplifies this sustainability challenge. The paper proposes a multi-disciplinary analysis of the situation. First, it identifies and documents the primary livelihood systems and the strategic adaptations involved in fishing communities. Based upon a sample of 200 households and the implementation of multivariate analyses, a typology is developed. Three household types are identified. Type I comprises better-off farming fishers that have high fishing capitals and income but the lowest returns on fishing and land assets. Type II includes poor fishing farmers with higher farming income; they show the highest return on land assets. Type III is composed of poorer, younger fishers with the highest return on fishing assets and fishing costs. They have little land, low farming income, and diversified livelihood sources. Second, the technical efficiency (TE) of fishing households is studied using a data envelopment analysis. The results show that the average TE is low, but marked differences exist between the types. Type I households have the lowest TE in fishing, confirming an extensification and overcapitalisation strategy. Type II households show a high technical fishing efficiency. They have developed on-farm diversification with a combined, balanced livelihood system. Type III households are the most efficient fishers. They developed an intensification strategy together with off-farm diversification. Different livelihood strategies and economic portfolio have been developed as the response to the limited resources, uncertainty, fluctuating environment and other source of vulnerability. The fishers built up their livelihood based on their assets’ ownership, access to other resource out of fishing and their socio-economic status. In this context, understanding livelihood diversity among small-scale fishers, different socio-economic, their efficiency, constraints and opportunities emerge as important factor in policy formulation to enhance support to small-scale fishing communities and improved management of both the resources and local development. Finally, the paper suggests a focus on people and community-related solutions and proposes a threefold approach of resource conservation, livelihood improvements and restructured governance.     

Livelihoods and landscapes at the threshold of change: disaster and resilience in a Chiapas coffee community

In 2005, torrential rains associated with Hurricane Stan devastated farm systems in southern Mexico. We present a case study on the impacts of and responses to Hurricane Stan by coffee households in three communities in the highlands of Chiapas, Mexico, with the objective of illuminating the linkages between household vulnerability and resilience. We analyze data from 64 household surveys in a cluster analysis to link household impacts experienced to post-Stan adaptive responses and relate these results with landscape-level land-cover changes. The degree of livelihood change was most significant for land-constrained households whose specialization in coffee led to high exposure and sensitivity to Stan and little adaptive capacity. Across the sample, the role of coffee in livelihood strategies declined, as households sought land to secure subsistence needs and diversified economically after Stan. Nevertheless, livelihoods and landscape outcomes were not closely coupled, at least at the temporal and spatial scale of our analysis: We found no evidence of land-use change associated with farmers’ coping strategies. While households held strong attitudes regarding effective resource management for risk reduction, this knowledge does not necessarily translate into capacities to manage resilience at broader scales. We argue that policy interventions are needed to help materialize local strategies and knowledge on risk management, not only to allow individual survival but also to enhance resilience at local, community and landscape scales.     

Land change in the southern Yucatán: case studies in land change science

The southern Yucatán Peninsular Region project was designed from the outset as an integrative, multidisciplinary program of study examining tropical deforestation in the largest track of seasonal tropical forest remaining in Mexico and in which smallholder agriculture and a major biosphere reserve are juxtaposed in regard to land uses and covers. Treating land as a coupled human–environment system, the project joins the remote sensing, environmental, social, and modeling sciences in a way that is now recognized as land change science. This paper introduces the project, the study region, and six papers that explore some of the coupled system dynamics in the region. These include the sub-regional variation in deforestation, the pan-regional adoption or anticipation of cattle ranching, the emergence of divergent household agricultural and overall livelihood strategies, the roles of cultural and household histories in agricultural livelihood choices, the temporal intensification of swidden cultivation and its implications for forest species, and carbon stocks across cultivation units, including a new econometric modeling application to forecast changes in these stocks.     

Livelihood strategies,environmental dependency and rural poverty: the case of two villages in rural Mozambique

This article attempts to explore the nexus between rural households’ environmental dependency, poverty and livelihood strategies. Households’ income from each livelihood activities formed the basis for categorizing households according to livelihood strategies. The principal component analysis, agglomerative hierarchical and the k-means cluster analysis were employed to determine the four livelihood clusters and to assign households to the identified livelihood strategies. Households’ environmental dependency, poverty and asset holding were compared across the strategies, and the determinants of livelihood choice were analyzed using multinomial logit model. The results indicate the existence of marked differences in environmental dependency, rural poverty and asset endowments across the livelihood groups. Household’s total saving, access to credit, production implements, business cost, exposure to agricultural shock determined household’s access to a more remunerative livelihood strategy. Incomes from each livelihood activities for the identified livelihood strategies were analyzed, and their implications were also discussed.     

Developing REDD+ policies and measures from the bottom-up for the buffer zones of Amazonian protected areas

A key activity in Phase 1 of REDD+—the UN’s Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) forestry mitigation mechanism—is the development of policies and measures (PAMs) to define where and how emissions reductions and carbon stock enhancements and conservation will be achieved. This paper provides contextual data and information for the development of PAMs specifically for the buffer zones of protected areas in the Peruvian Amazon, sites where REDD+ has the potential to generate considerable social and ecological co-benefits. The study sites are the buffer zones of two national parks, Yanachaga-Chemillen (YChNP) in central Peru and Manu (MNP) in the south-east. Data were collected through smallholder household surveys (n?=?200), covering livelihood strategies, land use practices and preference rankings of five REDD+ criteria. The findings suggest that PAMs in buffer zones could realistically achieve an additional ~10?% conservation of remaining forest and between 25 and 70?% additional reforestation of non-forest areas on private lands. The paper argues that in areas where agricultural co-operatives exist, such as MNP, these should be engaged in national REDD+ PAMs and supported by an international NGO; in areas where smallholders operate individually, such as YChNP, international NGOs may be best placed to gain local trust and thereby raise participation rates. The environmental effectiveness of REDD+ conservation PAMs could be greater in areas of intense agricultural production, yet financial and technical support for reforestation may offer the most effective avenue for carbon mitigation in these areas.     

退田还湖后替代生计的经济评估研究——以洞庭湖西畔山洲垸为例

分析了“湿地保护项目是如何改善民众生计的”这一问题。采用2000～2005年1 474个农户调查问卷作为基本数据,其中964个农户位于洞庭湖西畔山洲垸。得出6个结论：①WWF在西畔山洲垸的替代生计示范项目增加了农户的收入和福利,降低了脆弱性,增强可持续利用的自然资源基础;②妇女、老人以及低收入群体从项目中获益;③参加项目的农户比未参加项目的农户拥有更多的收入和财产;④与2000年项目开始时相比,生计水平有了持续的改善;⑤生计改善的原因是当地社区的积极参与、国家政策机遇、伙伴关系的建立、社区基层组织建设以及适应性管理方法的应用;⑥鱼类和水鸟等返回已恢复的湿地。表明该示范项目达到了自然保护目标。     

省域空间开发功能区划方法探讨

空间开发功能区划通过划定各类功能区,使尽可能多的经济社会活动配置在低环境敏感性、低开发成本、高发展潜力的空间,实现经济、资源和环境的协调发展以及综合效益的最大化。初步探讨了省域空间开发功能区划的方法和指标体系,提出了经济发展潜力、资源利用成本、生态保护价值的定量评价方法及其区域分异规律研究思路,确定了不同经济、资源和生态组合对应的空间开发功能类型,并引入三维魔方图方法进行综合分类。在此基础上,对江苏省进行了以县市为单元的功能分区,将其作为江苏省进行空间开发秩序调整和管制的依据。     

江苏土地资源存在的问题及其对策

一、扼要叙述土地资源利用现状、变化趋势和后备土地资源状况,二、说明江苏土地资源利用存在的问题。三、重点阐述人地矛盾突出和环境污染发展趋势严峻两大问题。四、指出必须把治理保护土地资源和生态环境作为一项重大任务加以落实。提出加强综合管理、综合治理,加强资源保护,控制人口增长,加速农业资源开发的对策。     

Local-level climate change adaptation decision-making and livelihoods in semi-arid areas in Zimbabwe

There is now overwhelming evidence of climate change and variability impacts in Africa, among them a reduction in agricultural production. This is a cause for concern given that 70 % of the continent’s population derives its livelihoods directly from rain-fed agriculture. There is need for adaptation strategies at all levels from the national to the local level to mitigate these adverse impacts from climate change. It is important to take advantage of and strengthen already existing household and community strategies. This study used both qualitative and quantitative methodologies to explore the role that livelihood dynamics play in local-level decision-making for adaptation to everyday vulnerability. Risk is considered to extend beyond climate to non-climatic stressors, and the notion of climate change as the major shock among many others is downgraded to one that is secondary to other shocks that even pose more danger to household and community livelihoods. The natural capital remains the basis upon which all the other capitals depend as drivers of choice for adaptation practices. A reorientation of capitals and associated activities is inevitable to deal with everyday vulnerability given that livelihood capitals play a key role in adaptation. Choice of household response strategies to shocks is not entirely intrinsic, but rather integral to a context where other players such as the extension operate to influence adaptation choices. This then highlights the need for embeddedness and context in understanding adaptation and livelihood changes.     

Community livelihood and its dependence on nature resources under pressure of conservation

Conflict between conservation and community livelihood is a significant issue in China.Based on Sustainable Livelihood Framework(SLA),this study systematically analyzed livelihoods assets of a community in a Yunnan snub-nosed monkey conservation area and found that the livelihood pentagon of the community was shaped by multiple but frail and unstable income sources,abundant natural resources with restricted use right,underutilized labors,inadequate financial resources,inconvenient physical capital and weak social capital.Villagers'income heavily depended on forest,and grazing and nontimber forest products(NTFP)collection are common and major income sources for villagers.However,differentiation of income dependence on forest among villagers'groups showed that there is no close correlation between the level of income and the level of income dependence on forest.Households'daily life also heavily depended on the forest due to heating and pig-feed cooking;hence,fuelwood cannot be easily replaced by any other energy resource for a long period.     

Community attitudes toward forest conservation programs through collaborative protected area management in Bangladesh

The formulation of conservation policies with options for creating protected areas is significantly influenced by the social factors of the surrounding communities. Therefore, indigenous knowledge, attitudes and perceptions of the local communities need to be explored during the planning and implementation stages of conservation projects. A government-initiated experiment in co-management was conducted in the Rema-Kalenga Wildlife Sanctuary, Bangladesh. This paper analyzes the attitudes toward conservation by members of local communities living in and around the wildlife sanctuary. Training incentives on alternative income-generating (AIG) activities and allotment of agricultural lands were distributed among the Forest User Groups. It is of interest to policy makers and resource managers whether this technique leads to improved attitudes on the part of local people. Although there were different attitudes toward protected areas and conservation, overall, a favorable attitude of the respondents was observed. The opinions of respondents also varied based on factors such as village position, village dependency level on forest resources, ethnicity and gender. Increase in annual income resulting from the augmented skills by trainings on AIG activities and getting agricultural lands leased from the Forest Department contributed significantly to the variation in respondents’ conservation attitudes. It is suggested that eliminating inequity and inequality in incentive distribution, discovering and launching training on more need-based livelihood activities, and liberalizing the restriction of resource extraction from the protected area by fixing the harvesting limit would encourage the community to be more cordially and actively involved in the conservation efforts of the sanctuary.