Peasant Perceptions of Problems and Possibilities for Local-Level Management of Trees in Niger and Upper Volta

Abstract

"This essay compares perceptions of woodstock management possibilities held by peasants living intwo widely separated sets of Sahelien villages, one located in south-central Niger, the other in northern Upper Volta. It assesses willingness to reforest as a function of (1) wood resource availability and (2) the working, or effective, rules of tree tenure. Working rules of tree tenure are structured, broadly, by (a) the character of local politico-judicial activity and (b) the nature-and degree of forest service activities in the areas studied. The overriding concern of the essay is policy analysis: given wood resource scarcity, and thus-need to manage the woodstock for sustained yield in a fragile environment what tree tenure rules most effectively promote popular reforestation?"