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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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Ambika P. Gautam, |
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Conference:
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Survival of the Commons: Mounting Challenges and New Realities, the Eleventh Conference of the International Association for the Study of Common Property |
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Location:
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Bali, Indonesia |
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Conf. Date:
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June 19-23, 2006 |
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Date:
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2006 |
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URI:
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https://hdl.handle.net/10535/622
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Sector:
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Forestry |
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Region:
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Middle East & South Asia |
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Subject(s):
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IASC
spatial theory
local knowledge
forestry--research
GIS
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Abstract:
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"This paper presents an innovative methodological framework that integrates spatial technologies, local knowledge and conventional survey methods in a single research. The methodology was used to monitor forest conditions and examine their associations with local forest governance parameters in a mountain watershed covering 153.3 km2 in the middle hills of Nepal. The study involved two spatial scales and analytical steps. First, geomatics techniques, supplemented with local knowledge, were used to map and detect changes in major land cover types of the study area between 1976 and 2000 and to analyze relationships between forest cover changes and governance arrangements. This was followed by a microlevel analysis of the relationships between biological conditions of selected forests within the watershed and their governance arrangements using conventional survey methods and analytical tools. The findings indicate that forest cover of the watershed increased by about 15 percent during the period due mainly to forest regeneration under the protection of local forest user groups (both formally and informally organized) and afforestation programs implemented by the government and forest user groups. The rate of increase in forest cover during the period was highest in areas under a semi-government type of governance arrangement followed by the community forest areas while the community forests were generally better in present biological conditions compared to the semi-government forests. This inconsistency between the findings from the two analyses does not allow us drawing firm conclusion regarding the role of property rights in determining forest condition but indicates that the outcomes from local forest management initiatives may be more dependent on the local institutional arrangement that regulate forest use and maintenance of the resource than on type of property right arrangements. The findings also provide evidence of methodological suitability of the research approach, which can be useful to address many other research questions related to forestry and natural resources management, particularly those involving multiple spatial scales."
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