Variation in Management: Variation in Equity, Livelihoods and the Forest Conditions in South Asia

Abstract

"A number of studies have identified several important factors responsible for management of common pool resources; and both success and failure cases have been reported across management regimes. However a little work has been done on distributional effects of the resources in varying management structures i.e. to what extent the Community Based Natural Resources Management (CBNRM) approaches and others have been able to deliver the desired goals of ensuring livelihood security and equitable distribution of benefits to the resource deficit communities. This paper focuses mainly on these equity and livelihood issues. Our basis of analysis is governed by the information available in International Forestry Resources and Institutions (IFRI) meta database by selecting community level data using variables on livelihood and equity issues relating with resource uses and resource condition. The IFRI database includes information from several countries and several locations within these countries; we have selected variables for which information are comparable. We have used the user groups (which fall under the forest association) as unit of analysis to compare different management structures vis-a-vis their effect on the equity and forest dependence. Although equity covers varying dimensions including equal rights to access the resource, the rights according to efforts made by specific segment of the society and the rights considering basic needs of the different individuals in the community; this paper uses the definition characterized by equality rules making and effects of rules on group members involved in resource use and management as proxy variables for equitable distribution of benefits. Similarly forest dependence has been measured by variables such as % share in food, fuel wood, biomass and timber requirements of the user group etc. The forest condition being the dependent variable is measured by the foresters perception about the forest i.e. improving, decreasing or constant. The paper then investigates how the forest condition is influenced by equity and resource dependence variables under different management structures."