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Impact of Community-Based Forest Management on Forest Protection: Evidence from an Aid-Funded Project in Ethiopia

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Abstract

Many African countries have adopted community-based forest management (CBFM) to prevent deforestation. However, empirical studies have not reached a consensus on the effectiveness of CBFM. The purpose of this study is to examine the impact of the establishment of participatory forest management associations in Ethiopia. We used remote sensing data to gauge the change in forest area and employed a two-stage least squares model to correct for possible biases. The results indicate that the forest area managed by forest associations declines more in the year of establishment than forest areas with no association. This finding suggests that villagers may engage in “last-minute” logging. However, 1 year after the establishment of the forest associations, the forest area of the associations increased substantially, most likely because the associations monitor illegal logging, enabling the regeneration of open areas within the registered forest area. On average, the forest area of the forest associations increased by 1.5 % in the first 2 years, whereas forest areas not managed as part of an association declined by 3.3 %. The cumulative impact over 2 years yields a net increase in the rate of change of 4.8 %. These results demonstrate that it is important to improve the monitoring of forest areas during the initial establishment of participatory forest management associations to maximize the effects of association establishment.

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Acknowledgments

This research was conducted as part of the research project on the “Impact Evaluation of Aid Projects of the Japan International Cooperation Agency” at the JICA Research Institute. The authors would like to thank Yasuyuki Sawada (the Project Leader) and Keiichi Tsunekawa (Director of the JICA Research Institute) for providing us with the opportunity to engage in this research. The authors are also grateful to Naoki Ando, Toru Inada, Takahiro Nakamura, Fumiaki Saso, Hideki Watanabe, and, particularly, Tsutomu Nishimura for their help with data collection.

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  1. Department of International Studies, University of Tokyo, 5-1-5 Kashiwanoha, Kashiwa, Chiba, 277-8563, Japan

    Ryo Takahashi & Yasuyuki Todo

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  1. Ryo Takahashi
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  2. Yasuyuki Todo
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Correspondence to Ryo Takahashi.

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Takahashi, R., Todo, Y. Impact of Community-Based Forest Management on Forest Protection: Evidence from an Aid-Funded Project in Ethiopia. Environmental Management 50, 396–404 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00267-012-9887-5

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