Community-based co-management mechanism of forest resources : a case study of Baishuijiang National Natural Reserve, China | |
| Author | Ting, Zhu |
| Call Number | AIT Diss. no.NR-11-06 |
| Subject(s) | Forest management--China Baishuijiang National Natural Reserve, China |
| Note | A dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Natural Resources Management, School of Environment, Resources and Development |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Series Statement | Dissertation ; no. NR-11-06 |
| Abstract | As one of the most important components of natural resources, forest resource is the main body of terrestrial ecosystem, which has high ecological value for maintaining global life and improving human living spaces. Based on the statistic data of China's forest investigation in 2005, around 21.2% of China's land area is covered by forest. However, compared with the huge number of Chinese population (1,341Million in 2010), the forest resource per capita in China is only 21.3% of the world's level. The status quo of China's forest resource management is not optimistic because of its low level of forest resource possession and the serious deforestation problem. In order to give a better protection of forest resource, Chinese government takes vigorous actions to improve forest resource management, such as mechanism reform, the establishment of protected areas and the implement of a series of reforestation programs. Since 2006, totally 2,349 natural reserves have been established for natural resource protection. Meanwhile, since the establishment of People's Republic of China in 1949, Chinese government has experienced three stages of forestry institution reforms, which are state-management mechanism, market economic system and community-based co-management mechanism. Little research has been done focusing on the comparison among these three different mechanisms and the impact of the institution reforms to forest resource protection and forest-community residents. Nowadays, community-based co-management (CBCM) mechanisms for forest management have matured through the development of new economic analysis and common property theory. However, while many local CBCM mechanisms have been initiated in Chinese Natural Reserves, there are few objective, data-based evaluations about whether these mechanisms improve forest conservation and local livelihoods. In order to find out the relationship between the implementation of CBCM and the social, ecological and economic surroundings, a series of correlation analysis have been done between CBCM and social factors, CBCM and ecological factors, CBCM and economic factors. The statistic data have shown that most of social, ecologic and economic factors have a significant correlation with CBCM implementation. Besides, practical experiences have also approved that, these significant correlations can not always bring a positiye relationship, as a double-edged sword, they can also form a negative impact between each other once some of these factors are in unhealthy status. With a main attempt to reveal a more comprehensive and objective understanding about China's current CBCM mechanism, to identify problem, and to propose ways to improve them, this study chooses Baishuijiang National Natural Reserve (BNNR) as a study case. The evaluation is based mainly on three criteria: efficiency, equality and sustainability of project operation. Groups of sub-factors are selected for further analysis based on three criteria. The study makes use of interdisciplinary methods to collect data on social, economic and biological dimensions, including household surveys, semi-structured interviews and participatory rural appraisal techniques. The 2010 survey resulted in two hundred completed primary questionnaires, with data from two protection stations containing eight villages in BNNR. The interviewees were chosen randomly using a stratified random sampling design, and selected from 200 different households including both project participation households and non-project participation households. 111 The survey data indicate that local CBCM mechanisms provide a wide-participation platform for local villagers, associated administration managers, research institutions and NGOs to join in forest resource protection work with the local livelihood improved at the same time. CBCM projects have facilitated a reduction in forest resource dependency by transferring to energy-saving stoves, installing biogas, developing tea production and so on. What is more, these projects have also facilitated the improvement of household income and the encouragement of local people to participate in forest resource protection. Based on the analysis of current CBCM mechanism and institution arrangements, the study demonstrates that protection is unequal to forbid the use of resource. People have rights to satisfy their basic forest resource demands. Therefore, to improve the living conditions of local residents is the most urgent need, and it is also regarded as a necessary means to achieve the goal of forest resource conservation. Besides, the analysis suggests that most CBCM organizations have made progress in efficiency, equity and sustainability. However, further study should focus on how to deal with the lingering problems of inequity in responsibility and rights among CBCM committee members, poor distribution of benefits, insufficient program-design and management expertise, faulty information dissemination, and insufficient capital investment. The study provides some recommendations and instruments in details to improve current CBCM mechanism, such as to improve social justice and social welfare in CBCM, to establish and improve incentive mechanism, to set up conflict-resolving mechanism, to import various forms of development projects and cooperation systems and to promote ecological compensation mechanism. |
| Year | 2011 |
| Corresponding Series Added Entry | Asian Institute of Technology. Dissertation ; no. NR-11-06 |
| Type | Dissertation |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Development and Sustainability (DDS) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Natural Resources Management (NRM) |
| Chairperson(s) | Shivakoti, Ganesh P.; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Resurreccion, Bernadette P. ;Cochard, Roland ;Yin, Runsheng |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | China Scholarships Council (CSC) |
| Degree | Thesis (Ph.D.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2011 |