Study on problems and remedies in participatory forest management of Kanneliya-Deliyagala-Nakiyadeniya forest in Galle District, Sri Lanka | |
| Author | Malalasekera, Pushpa Nayana Kanthie |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.NR-05-02 |
| Subject(s) | Forest management--Sri Lanka--Citizen participation Community forests--Sri Lanka |
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science, School of Environment, Resources and Development |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Series Statement | Thesis ; no. NR-05-02 |
| Abstract | Forest is one of the most important natural resources in Sri Lanka. Most of the people who live close to the forest depend largely on the forest products, such as timber, fuel wood, medical plants, and leaf litter for most of their daily needs. In the 1800s, Sri Lanka was almost covered by natural forest. With the increase population, development of plantations and domestic agriculture much of the forest disappeared. Encroachment of forestland for agriculture activities is another critical problem affecting the forest cover. In 1999, the Government introduced a forest conservation project to the Southwestern part of the country focusing on conservation of the biodiversity through participation of the local communities. This project included three forests located in the Southwestern part of the country, which called Kanneliya-Deliyagala-Nakiyadeniya (KDN) forest. The KDN forest complex covers 10,139 ha in both Galle and Matara Districts. The diverse population around the KDN forests presents several problems to Participatory Forest Management (PFM). The powerful people who have been exploiting the forest illegally and could potentially loss when forest come under participatory management. The General objective of the study is to examine and identify the causes of declining KDN forest area, even after introduction and completion of expected five-year KDN project with participatory forest management approach and to develop appropriate alternative development sustaining the KDN project. In addition, the study attempted to examine the impacts of the participatory forest program and its strengths and weaknesses that were expected to promote the people participation in conserving KDN forest. The study was conducted in the two villages close to Kanneliya forest. The two villages namely Weerapana South and Udugama North were selected as sample villages from Thawalama and Nagoda DS divisions, respectively. The primary data were collected through the household questionnaire survey and Rapid Rural Appraisal (RRA). The Secondary data were collected through the maps, project reports and village profiles ... etc. After the KDN project activities, the dependency of the forest and the illegal activities in the study area has decreased compared to the earlier situation. However, people are still depending on the forest products as well as the illegal activities in the study area. People are giving low contribution to the forest management. Therefore, the level of participation and decision making role in the CBO activities are in low level. According to the findings, the community participation in the KDN project is in preliminary stage. |
| Year | 2005 |
| Corresponding Series Added Entry | Asian Institute of Technology. Thesis ; no. NR-05-02 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Development and Sustainability (DDS) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Natural Resources Management (NRM) |
| Chairperson(s) | Vogt, Dietrich Schmidt; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Gautam, Ambika P. ;Ranamukaarachchi, S. L.; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Government of the Netherlands; |
| Degree | Thesis (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2005 |