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PDF
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Type:
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Conference Paper |
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Author:
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Ongugo, Roxventa A.; Osumba, Purity Adhiambo; Tuzo, Pasiens M. |
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Conference:
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Sustaining Commons: Sustaining Our Future, the Thirteenth Biennial Conference of the International Association for the Study of the Commons |
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Location:
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Hyderabad, India |
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Conf. Date:
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10-14 January |
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Date:
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2011 |
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URI:
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https://hdl.handle.net/10535/7091
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Sector:
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Forestry |
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Region:
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Africa |
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Subject(s):
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institutional change
governance and politics
sustainability
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Abstract:
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"Traditional forest use and governance have been practiced among pastoralist communities for some decades now. Traditional forest governance is practiced in forests, which are owned by homogeneous communities such as Maasai of Kenya. The Maasai community lives adjacent to Loita forest in Narok South district and Mukogodo forest in Laikipia district of Kenya. This paper focuses on the Maasai community living adjacent to the Loita forest whom since time immemorial has relied on the forest for their livelihoods. They use the forest for initiation, as a shrine and livestock grazing. Historically, entry into the forest was subject to permission from the Oloibon (a traditional community leader) but with time, this responsibility has since been transferred to Village Elders. The forest governance structure was therefore based on the traditional leadership. The objective of the study was to analyze how the Loita Maasai community used to control the use of the forest resource and document how the community governance structure has changed over time. The study also looked at how the change from traditional to modern lifestyle has affected the management of the Loita forest. Household survey and participatory rural appraisal tools were used to collect data from households living within five Kilometers from the edge of the forest. Analysis of the data was done using a SPSS program. Findings from the study were presented using simple statistics that indicated that traditional forest use and institutional changes have a significant effect on the condition of the forest. Findings further showed that despite the tough rules governing the utilization of the forest, institutional change coupled with change in lifestyle from pastoralism to sedentary is likely to have negative effects on the condition of the forest."
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