Forest resources exploitation and management towards sustainable forest management the case of pale township sagaing region myanmar

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND RURAL DEVELOPMENT VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF FORESTRY ------ EI MOM KHIN FOREST RESOURCES EXPLOITATION AND MANA

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND RURAL

DEVELOPMENT

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF FORESTRY

- -

EI MOM KHIN

FOREST RESOURCES EXPLOITATION AND

MANAGEMENT TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT: THE CASE OF PALE TOWNSHIP,

SAGAING REGION, MYANMAR

MASTER THESIS IN FOREST SCIENCE

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING MINISTRY OF AGRICULTURE AND RURAL

DEVELOPMENT

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY OF FORESTRY

- -

EI MOM KHIN

FOREST RESOURCES EXPLOITATION AND

MANAGEMENT TOWARDS SUSTAINABLE FOREST MANAGEMENT: THE CASE OF PALE TOWNSHIP,

SAGAING REGION, MYANMAR

Major: Forest Science Code: 8620201

MASTER THESIS IN FOREST SCIENCE

Academic advisor: Assoc Prof Dr Tran Thi Thu Ha

Abstract

The management of forest resources in Myanmar falls mostly in the hands of the government although communities surrounding these resources are recognized stakeholders This study focused on assessing the forest resources exploitation and management within Pale Township, Sagaing Region, Myanmar Focus group discussions, key informant interviews and face to face household interviews with structured questionnaires were the primary data collection methods 211 households were selected randomly from eight villages at which four villages are located inside reserved forests and four villages are located outside reserved forests because their livelihoods activities are dependent on the forest resources SPSS (Statistical Packages for Social Science) Software was used to analyze the quantitative data while content analysis and SWOT (Strengths, weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats) were used to analyze the qualitative data Results indicate that 78.2% of the respondents rely on the forest resources such as fuel wood, bamboo and other non-timber forest products for both subsistence needs and sale But only 15.6% from total respondents depends on forest resources as their main income source Chi-square analysis shows that household characteristics such as education level, household size and main income sources are influencing the forest resources extraction According to independent sample (T-test), households inside the reserved forests received more forest income than the households outside reserved forest One-way ANOVA results show that age, education and size of the household did not significantly influence the forest income Results of focus group discussions, key informant and household interviews revealed that a significantly large proportion of the respondents perceived the forest cover in these areas as declining Fuel-wood consumption was the main reason for deforestation and forest degradation Only 28% of the respondents reported that forest areas were increasing because of plantation establishment Chi-square test results show that location of villages, gender and knowledge about sustainable forest management are the factors influencing the participation of local people in forest management

Based on these findings, mitigation measures such as access to higher education, alternative income generation opportunities, reduction of household size, fuel-wood substitutes, awareness raising program for participation, sustainable policies for NTFPs and community forestry that empowers local communities in forest management were suggested to be enable the realization of the goal of sustainable forest management

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Abstract i

List of Table vi

List of Figures vii

Abbreviations viii

1 INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 General Introduction 1

1.2 Background of the Study 2

1.3 Myanmar Forest Types and Situation 4

1.4 Rationale 7

1.5 Goal and Objectives 8

1.6 Research Questions 8

2 LITERATURE REVIEW 9

2.1 Introduction 9

2.2 Sustainable Development 9

2.3 Sustainable Forest Management 10

2.4 Instruments for SFM Implementation 12

2.5 ITTO Global Set of Criteria and Indicator Groups for SFM 13

2.6 Forest Resources Exploitation and Livelihood of Local People 14

2.7 Participation of Local Communities in Forest Resources Management 17

3 METHODOLOGY 20

3.1 Description of Study Area 20

3.2 Research Design and Approaches 22

3.3 Data Collection 24

3.3.1 Primary Data Collection 24

3.3.2 Secondary Data Collection 27

3.4 Data Processing and Data Analysis 28

3.4.1 Quantitative Data Analysis 28

3.4.2 Qualitative Data Analysis 29

4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION 30

4.1 Overview of Myanmar Forest Policy and Regulatory Framework 30

4.1.1 Myanmar Forest Policy 30

4.1.2 Forest Law (1992) 31

4.1.3 Forest Rules (1995) 32

4.1.4 Forestry Master Plan 32

4.1.5 Forest Land Tenure Reform 33

4.1.6 Community Forestry Program 33

4.2 Local Forest Management 33

4.3 Forest Cover Changes of Pale Township during 20 years (1998-2018) 36

4.4 Demographic and Socio-economic Characteristics of Respondents 39

4.4.1 Demographic Characteristics of Respondents 39

4.4.2 Main Income Sources and Monthly Income of Households 41

4.4.3 Expenditure of Households 43

4.5 Forest Resources Exploitation 45

4.5.1 Primary Categories of Forest Products Collected 45

4.5.2 Fuel-wood Usage 46

4.5.3 Timber Extraction 47

4.5.4 Bamboo Exploitation 49

4.5.5 Other Non-Timber Forest Products Usage 50

4.6 Relationship between Forest Resources Exploitation and Households Characteristics 51

4.7 Income from Forest Resources Exploitation 53

4.8 Perceptions of Local People on Forest Management 57

4.9 Factors Influencing the Participation of Local People in Forest

Management 60

5 CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 65

6 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 69

7 REFERENCES 70

APPENDIX I: Household Structured Questionnaire Form 79

APPENDIX II: Semi-structured Checking List for Key Informants Interview 91

APPENDIX III: Field Photos………94

List of Table

Table 1.1: Top Ten Countries for the Greatest Annual Net Loss of Forest Area,

2010-2015 3

Table 1.2: Forest Cover Change in Myanmar 6

Table 3.1: Reserved Forests and Protected Public Forest in Pale Township 22

Table 3.2: Table Numbers of Households and Sampling Intensity in each Village 25 Table 4.1: SWOT Analysis of Forest Management 35

Table 4.2: Land Use and Land Cover Types in 1998, 2008 and 2018 36

Table 4.3: Demographic Characteristics of Respondents 40

Table 4.4: Occupation of Respondents inside and outside RFs 41

Table 4.5: Main Income Source of Households inside and outside RFs 42

Table 4.6: Main Income Sources and Monthly Income 43

Table 4.7: Monthly Expenditure of Households 44

Table 4.8: Monthly Expenditure of Household for Each Item 44

Table 4.9: Forest Resources Exploitation of Local People 46

Table 4.10: Other Non-Timber Forest Products Usage in Study Villages 50

Table 4.11: Forest Resources Exploitation and Households Characteristics Relationship 52

Table 4.12: Total Monthly Income from Forest Products 54

Table 4.13: Summary of Forest Income across Location of Households and Gender 55

Table 4.14: Test Summary of Forest Income by Different Villages 55

Table 4 15: Test Summary of Forest Income by Age, Education and Household Size 57

Table 4.16: Factors Influencing the Participation of Local People in Forest Management 62

List of Figures

Figure 1 1: Annual change in forest area (2010-2015) (FAO 2016) 3

Figure 1 2: Forested area in 2015 and forest changes over 1990-2015 in Asia (FAO 2016) 4

Figure 1 3: Major Forest Types in Myanmar (Forest Department,2016) 5

Figure 1 4: Forest Cover Change in Myanmar, 1990-2015 (FAO 2015) 6

Figure 3 1: Location of Study Area 21

Figure 3 2: Location of Villages; inside and outside Reserved Forests 25

Figure 4 1: Land Cover Classification of Pale Township in 1998 (FD 2018) 37

Figure 4 2: Land Cover Classification of Pale Township in 2008(FD 2018) 38

Figure 4 3: Land Cover Classification of Pale Township in 2018(FD 2018) 38

Figure 4 4: Main Income Sources of Study Villages (Source: Field Survey, 2018)42 Figure 4 5: Forest Resources Exploitation of Local People (Source: Field Survey, 2018) 46

Figure 4 6: Energy Source for Cooking (Source: Field Survey, 2018) 47

Figure 4 7: Source of Fuel-wood (Source: Field Survey, 2018) 47

Figure 4 8: Purpose of Timber Extraction (Source: Field Survey, 2018) 48

Figure 4 9: Timber Extractor by Gender (Source: Field Survey, 2018) 48

Figure 4 10: Purpose of Bamboo Exploitation (Source: Field Survey, 2018) 49

Figure 4 11: Bamboo Exploitation by Gender (Source: Field Survey, 2018) 49

Figure 4 12: Forest Products Collection (Source: Field Survey, 2018) 53

Figure 4 13: Major Income Source of Households (Source: Field Survey, 2018) 53

Figure 4 14: Forest Income by Different Study Villages (Source: Field Survey, 2018) 56

Figure 4 15: Knowledge about Forest Area Changes (Source: Field Survey, 2018) 58

Figure 4 16: Knowledge about Forest Regulations (Source: Field Survey, 2018) 58

Figure 4 17: Opinion about the Management Actions of Forest Department 59

Figure 4 18: Satisfaction of Local People on Management Actions 59

Abbreviations

CBD: Convention on Biological Diversity C&I: Criteria and Indicators

CF: Community Forestry CFI: Community Forestry Instruction

CFUG: Community Forestry User Group

FAO: Food and Agriculture Organization FD: Forest Department

FLEGT: Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade

FMU: Forest Management Unit ITTO: International Tropical Timber Organization MCPFE: Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forest in Europe MSS: Myanmar Selection System

NGO: Non-governmental Organization NTFPs: Non-timber Forest Products

PAS: Protected Area Systems PFE: Permanent Forest Estate PPF: Protected Public Forest RF: Reserved Forest

REDD: Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Forest

Degradation SFM: Sustainable Forest Management SPSS: Statistical Packages for Social Science SWOT: Strengths, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats

UNCED: United Nations Conference on Environment and Development UNDP: United Nations Development Program

UNFF: United Nations Forum on Forests

Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION

1.1 General Introduction

Forests are not only source of life and livelihoods but also they are home to many species of flora and fauna They can provide both tangible and intangible benefits Apart from the obvious uses of forests as a source of timber and fuel wood, they help maintain the balance of nature and provide a long list of services for human and other living things on the planet Forests help to combat climate change, conserve biodiversity and also provide wide range of economic opportunities The importance of the forest for humankind can be explained along different perspectives

There are millions of communities that depend on forests and they are a part

of large ecosystems that provide society with many different benefits According to (FAO, 2010), forests provide employment and livelihoods for a large proportion of the population, particularly in developing countries It is estimated that about 350 million of people who live inside or on the fringe of forest are dependent on these areas for subsistence and income, with an assumed range of 60 million to 200 million indigenous people who are almost entirely reliant upon the forests for their subsistence and survival (FAO, 2012) UNDP (1998) mentions that nearly a third

of the world‟s people, almost all of them are poor, depend directly on what they can grow, gather or catch And while everyone on earth ultimately depends on its natural systems, the poor are particularly vulnerable to degradation of those systems Forests are one of the major natural resources and their degradation directly affects the quality and quantity of other natural resources like soil, water, air, fauna, flora, and other life forms

So, the approach of forest management has shifted from management for a single objective of wood production to an ecosystem approach that tries incorporating the production of multiple outputs into forest management decisions

by recognizing the current and future interests of many stakeholders and beneficiaries According to Turner (1998), good forestry is most likely to flourish under special management and planning laws, which enable a balance to

be struck between public and private interests as they affect forestry and other land uses operating within or adjoining forest lands These include agriculture, rough grazing, wilderness, water gathering, transport, housing, mineral extraction, recreation and nature conservation

1.2 Background of the Study

About a third of the earth's original forests have disappeared, and about thirds of what is left has been fundamentally changed (UNDP 1998) Rapid population growth and economic growth in developing countries will lead to greater use of forest resources and unsustainable management of forests Problems associated with deforestation and degradation are largely confined to tropical and subtropical forest areas

two-'From 1990 to 2005, the largest forest losses occurred in Africa and South America Asia noted a slight increase in forest area due to massive afforestation efforts in China and to some extent in India However, forest losses in countries such as Indonesia and Myanmar were substantial (1990-2005: -20.3%, -19.0%, respectively)' (FAO 2016) Rapid deforestation occurred in countries with relatively abundant, as measured by forest cover and forest resources (Jacek P.Siry 2015)

As shown in the following figures, many countries in Southeast Asia have suffered substantial forest area depletion during 1990-2015, while others have largely expanded the size of their forested areas (FAO 2016) The deforestation analysis results of FAO (2016) ranking have placed Myanmar in the third position while Brazil and Indonesia takes the first and second position respectively

Figure 1 1: Annual change in forest area (2010-2015) (FAO 2016)

Table 1.1: Top Ten Countries for the Greatest Annual Net Loss of Forest Area,

2010-2015

Country Annual forest area net loss

Area (thousand ha) Rate

Figure 1 2: Forested area in 2015 and forest changes over 1990-2015 in Asia (FAO

2016)

1.3 Myanmar Forest Types and Situation

Myanmar is endowed with rich renewable and non-renewable natural resources and is known for its high level of biodiversity About 43% of the country‟s total land area is still covered with natural forests (FAO, 2015) Due to elevation, topography, rainfall, soil, temperature and other variations, Myanmar is covered by seven different forest types with total areas of 29,041,000 hectares as shown in the Figure The most abundant types of forests are mixed deciduous forests and the smallest portion the forest area is covered by mangrove forests

In Myanmar, up to 2009, the permanent forest estate (PFE) comprising reserved forest (RF), protected public forest and protected areas systems (PAS) occupies 28.06% of Myanmar‟s total land area in which reserved forest (18.23%), protected public forest (5.89%) and protected areas (3.9%) are included (Forest Department, 2016)

Figure 1 3: Major Forest Types in Myanmar (Forest Department,2016)

In Myanmar, about two thirds of the population derives their livelihoods from agriculture, forestry and fishery In local areas, people are highly dependent on forests and non-timber forest products for their livelihoods Myanmar‟s forest cover decreased due to over-exploitation of forest, shifting cultivation, over-harvesting of fuel-wood and charcoal, over-grazing, forest fires, agricultural expansion, mining, infrastructure development, urbanization and other factors Forest cover changes in Myanmar during the period from 1990 to 2015 can be seen in the Table 1.2 Forest cover decreased from 58% in 1990 to 51.5% in 2000, 49.3 % in 2005, 47% in 2010 and is projected to further decline to 43% in 2015 (FAO 2015) as shown in the figure 1.4

Figure 1 4: Forest Cover Change in Myanmar, 1990-2015 (FAO 2015)

Table 1.2: Forest Cover Change in Myanmar

Categories

Area (000 hectares)

1990 2000 2005 2010 2015

Forest 39,218 34,868 33,321 31,773 29,041 Other wooded land 19,498 19,703 19,908 20,113 15,080

Other land 7,039 11,184 12,526 13,869 21,634 Inland water bodies 1,903 1,903 1,903 1,903 1,903

Total 67,658 67,658 67,658 67,658 67,658

Source: (FAO 2015) These above data shows that Myanmar' forests have not been managed on a sustainable basis Effort for the current situation in Myanmar is still far from satisfactory Therefore, forestry problems need to be addressed in relation to broader biological and human interactions on the basis of sustainability So, this research focuses on the forest resources exploitation and management with the involvement of local communities living within and outside reserved forests towards sustainable forest management in the study area and in Myanmar

1.4 Rationale

There is a need to sustain the natural forest resources since they satisfy a lot

of our basic necessities These include shelter and fuel-wood utilization, provision

of medicinal plants, erosion control, scenic protection, global warming and foreign exchange earnings Myanmar has about 29 million hectares of forest that are owned

by the State (FAO 2015) „Annual Deforestation rate of Myanmar is about 845 square miles and it is 0.68% of total forest covered area of the country Annual forest restoration through establishment of forest plantation covers only about 14.79% of annual deforestation rate.‟ (Khaung 2015)

On the other hand, with increasing population, the demand for fuel-wood and other forest products exceeds the carrying capacity of natural forests Moreover, regardless of the significant contribution of the forest resources to the livelihood of forest dependents in Myanmar, deforestation remains high 'The main drivers of deforestation origination from within the forestry sector include over-exploitation of timber, shifting cultivation and overharvesting of wood for fuel-wood and charcoal production Underlying drivers include poverty, economic growth and increasing consumption, capacity constraints, unclear land tenure and weak enforcement of laws and lack of grassroots participation' (Than 2015)

The high rate of deforestation is probably because of inadequate involvement of the communities in the sustainable forest management practices through the integration of their livelihood activities into the sustainable forest management initiatives (FAO, 2010)

Sustainable forest management aims to ensure that the goods and services derived from the forests meet current needs while at the same time ensuring their

continued availability and contribution to long-term development needs

Sustainable forest management rests on the conservation of biodiversity and realization of the socio-economic functions of forests In its broadest sense, sustainable forest management encompasses the administrative, legal, technical, economic, social, and environmental aspects of the conservation and careful use of forests resources with increased livelihood options It implies various degrees

of deliberate human intervention, ranging from actions aimed at safeguarding and maintaining the forest ecosystem and its functions, to favoring specific socially or economically valuable species or groups of species for the improved production of goods and services

This research focuses on examining the forest resources exploitation and management relating to the legal and policy framework towards sustainable forest management This study can be helpful as a reference for future management actions towards sustainable forest management and the livelihoods of local people within the study area and also Myanmar

1.5 Goal and Objectives

The main goal of this research is to assess forest resources exploitation and management activities in relation to existing legal and policy framework in order to enhance sustainable forest management in Pale Township, Sagaing Region, Myanmar Specific objectives are;

1 To overview the forest policy in Myanmar and forest management conditions

in the Pale Township, Sagaing region;

2 To assess forest resources exploitation and perception of local community on forest management in Pale Township, Sagaing region;

3 To identify factors influencing the participation of local people in forest management of Pale Township, Sagaing region;

1.6 Research Questions

Specific research questions are the followings;

1 What are the existing forest policy, law and rules supporting the sustainable forest management in the context of Myanmar?

2 What forest resources are exploited and what are the factors that influence the forest resources exploitation?

3 What are the factors that influence the participation of local people in forest management of Pale Township, Sagaing region?

Chapter 2 LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Introduction

This chapter discusses the relevant literature in relation to this research „The concept of „sustainable development‟ and „sustainable forest management‟ has evolved out of the increasing public awareness on the present state of the earth and its resources from the global-scale perspective These two concepts have advanced the contemporary integration of development, environment and society.‟ (Lintangah 2014)

2.2 Sustainable Development

The concept of sustainability began at the end of the 1980s and at the beginning of the 1990s with the Brundtland report (1987) and the Conference on Environment and Development held in Rio de Janerio, Brazil (1992) (the so-called Earth Summit), respectively (Tuyet 2018) Sustainable development concept was elaborated by the World Commission on Environment and Development in 1987, and endorsed by the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) in June 1992 (Poudel 2002)

The publication of the Brundtland report, Our Common Future, emphasized that sustainable development is the development that meets the needs of the present generation without compromising the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs and aspirations (WCED, 1987) This is the development, which is economically viable, environmentally sound and socially beneficial and which balances present and future needs Therefore, there has been strong emphasis in all sorts of literature on the importance of ensuring social, economic and environmental balance, if there is any chance of achieving sustainability Sustainable forest management has been described as forestry's contribution to sustainable development (Sophie Higman 2005)

2.3 Sustainable Forest Management

„Globally, forest management attention seems now to have generally been shifted from management for a single objective (often wood production) to a sustainable ecosystem approach that tries to incorporate the principles of equity in resource utilization and participation for sustained production of multiple outputs into forest management by recognizing the hopes and aspirations of different stakeholders interested in the future of the natural forest resources.‟ (Butt 2006)

Defining sustainable forest management (SFM) is as complex and difficult as the term sustainability, because of the many integrated concepts and variables that arise regarding forest management (Adamowicz & Burton, 2003) The multidimensional complexity of SFM as used within the international forest policy context is expressed in the UNCED „Forest Principles‟, the ITTO or the Ministerial Conference on the Protection of Forests in Europe (MCPFE) definition (Rametsteiner & Simula, 2003) The Forest Principles of (UNCED, 1992) states that

“forest resources and forest lands should be sustainably managed to meet the social, economic, ecological, cultural and spiritual needs of present and future generations”

Sustainable forest management is the process of managing forests to achieve one or more clearly specified objectives of management with regard to the production of a continuous flow of desired forest products and services, without undue reduction of its inherent values and future productivity and without undue undesirable effects on the physical and social environment (ITTO 1998)

According to the Food and Agriculture Organization, sustainable forest management aims to ensure that the goods and services derived from the forest meet present-day needs while at the same time securing their continued availability and contribution to long-term development In its broadest sense, forest management encompasses the administrative, legal, technical, economic social and environmental aspects of the conservation and use of forests It implies various degrees of deliberate human intervention, ranging from actions aimed at safeguarding and maintaining the forest ecosystem and its functions, to favoring

specific socially or economically valuable species or groups of species for the improved production of goods and services (FAO) 2018)

'The elements of sustainable forest management are 1) legal and policy framework such as compliance with legislation and regulation, tenure and use rights, the forest organization's commitment and policy, 2) sustained and optimal production of forest products such as management planning, sustain yield of forest products, monitoring the effects of management, protection of the forest from illegal activities, economic viability and optimizing benefits from the forest, 3) protecting the environment such as environmental impact assessment, conservation of biodiversity, ecological sustainability, use of chemicals, and waste management, (4) well-being of people such as consultation and participation processes, social impact assessment, recognition of rights and culture, relations with employees, contribution

to development.'(Sophie Higman 2005)

The concept of sustainable forest management has been influenced by the experience of the past, the current and future threat of the forest for forest conversion and degradation, and the influence of increasing human needs (Lintangah 2014) The Agenda 21 of (UNCED, 1992) states comprehensively on the prominence of sustainable forest management as follows

“The present situation calls for urgent and consistent action for conserving and sustaining forest resources The greening of suitable areas, in all its component activities, is an effective way of increasing public awareness and participation in protecting and managing forest resources It should include the consideration of land use and tenure patterns and local needs and should spell out and clarify the specific objectives of the different types of greening activities” (UNCED, 1992)

Based on (Putz, 1994), sustainable forest management programs should be carried out in ways that reflect local, regional, and national priorities People are key actors in the social-ecological system and disregard for local claims and needs has resulted in the failure of many forestry projects (Vanhanen et al., 2010) To secure sustainable forest management, it must be comprehended that sustainable

forestry is more an issue of human behavior than an issue of trees and forests (Nilsson, 2001)

2.4 Instruments for SFM Implementation

The concept of SFM covers the most important aspects in relation to forests and their management, having been principally drawn up by governmental representatives, international forest policy makers, and in consultation with international environmental NGOs (Rametsteiner & Simula, 2003) Some important areas of progress are the initiation of the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO), the adoption of „Forest Principles‟ during the Earth Summit

in 1992 and the government agreement on sustainable use of forests, such as in the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) and the United Nations Forum on Forests (UNFF) (Visseren-Hamakers & Glasbergen, 2007) In 2006, the UN Forum

on forest reached an agreement on the future direction of international forest policy with four global objectives to reduce deforestation and to achieve the internationally agreed development goals These included addressing the loss of forest cover and forest degradation, forest-based economic, social and environmental benefits and protection forests, and as well mobilizing financial resources for the implementation

of sustainable forest management (UNFF, 2006)

„The evaluation of sustainability considers the impact of management activities equally across the human welfare aspects of the economy, social issues and environment This involves the criteria that not only consider local current time scale, but also spans across management scales (international, regional, local) and temporal (annual, mid- and long-term).‟ (Nilsson & Gluck, 2000)

The seven common global applicable thematic criteria for SFM which define

„sustainable‟ or „good‟ forest management are identified as the extent of forest resources, forest health and vitality, productive function of forests, biological diversity, protective functions of forests, socio-economic benefits and needs, and legal, policy and institutional framework (Rametsteiner & Simula, 2003) Apart from the conventional government approach that has been devised for forest management and planning, the three main instruments widely known as vehicles for

SFM implementation are the National Forest Program, Forest Criteria and Indicator

and Forest Certification (Lintangah 2014)

2.5 ITTO Global Set of Criteria and Indicator Groups for SFM

Criteria and Indicators (C&I) are tools which can be used to describe, implement and monitor sustainable forest management both at national and at the forest level (FAO, 1998) Criteria are set of core values, while indicators are a set of core data (Nilsson, 2001) „C&I systems were used to bring these elements of SFM

in an operational (measurable) form The general hierarchy of the criteria and indicators system is: principle – criterion – indicator – verifier (Auch 2014)‟

ITTO (2005) defines: “A criterion is defined as an aspect of forest management that is considered important and by which sustainable forest management may be assessed A criterion is accompanied by a set of related indicators and describes a state or situation which should be met to comply with sustainable forest management.” The ITTO scheme was revised and harmonized with a global set of criteria for SFM in international conferences on C&I in 2002 and 2005 (ITTO, 2005) These seven criteria are seen as essential elements of sustainable forest management (bullets are main groups of indicators, the order of the criteria does not indicate priority or relative importance (Auch 2014)

General legal, economic and institutional framework

Criterion 1: Enabling conditions for sustainable forest management

 Policy, legal and governance framework

 Economic framework

 Institutional framework

 Planning framework

Quantity, security and quality of forest resources

Criterion 2: Extent and condition of forests

Criterion 3: Forest ecosystem health

Goods and services provided by the forest

Criterion 4: Forest production

 Resource assessment

 Planning and control procedures

 Silvicultural and harvesting guidelines

Criterion 5: Biological diversity

 Ecosystem diversity

 Species diversity

 Genetic diversity

 Procedures for biodiversity conservation in production forests

Criterion 6: Soil and water protection

 Extent of protection

 Protective functions in production forests

Criterion 7: Economic, social and cultural aspects

 Socioeconomic aspects

 Cultural aspects

 Community and indigenous people‟s rights and participation

SFM is not only about the management of the forest for production or protection but also maintain the relationship between people and forest (Parviainen, 2006) Participation is an important aspect of SFM (Kangas et al., 2010) A hope for sustainability could be possible when there is participation in the development of methods for assessing the social and ecological impacts of forestry operations, which encompass various stakeholders, including forest managers, timber importers, researchers and environmentalists (Putz, 1994) Human intervention and interaction under the sustainable forest management concept remain the focal factors towards the anticipated progress during its implementation (Lintangah 2014)

2.6 Forest Resources Exploitation and Livelihood of Local People

Forests are the sources of both tangible and intangible benefits to poor people, tangible benefits like (new) agricultural land, non-timber forest products (NTFPs), timber and intangible benefits like improving micro-climate condition and

on-site ecological services are the examples of benefits that can be obtained from forests (Vedeld et al., 2007)

According to the World Bank, forest depending population is over one billion, one third of the world‟s total population is using biomass fuels, and billions

of people are relying on indigenous drugs produced from herbs and extractives collected from the forests More than a fifth of protein requirements depend on hunting and fishing on forested land in some developing countries (CIFOR, 2008)

Forest resources are significant contributors to rural livelihoods for some of the continent‟s poorest people (MacGregor et al., 2007) (Vedeld et al., 2007) stated that “Poor people often depend directly on non-cultivated natural resources Many

of these are found in forest environments”

According to income data from over 24 developing countries covering about 8,000 households of 360 villages, (Angelsen et al., 2011) stated that income from forest activities contributes about 20% of total household income while other environmental income occupies more than 25% (i.e the same as incomes from growing crops)

In a World Bank report, it is stated that more than 1.6 billion people worldwide dependent on forests and trees for their livelihood (World Bank, 2008) With regard to forest related livelihood and poverty eradication, (Kamanga et al., 2009) mentioned that it is important to understand that the forest income dependence in planning of natural resource utilization at all levels of governance, natural resources are important for rural income and, policy interventions including securing and enhancing the natural resource base, designing participatory management and monitoring systems, securing poor people's rights of access to such resources, increasing values added by establishing markets and marketing systems, and broadening poor people's livelihood base must be addressed for the rural development “Forest resources, while providing a safety net, could also provide a launch pad for innovation, economic development and poverty alleviation, as they have elsewhere” (MacGregor et al., 2007)

Babulo et al., 2008 stated that the extent to which the forest is used and how people depend on forest environmental products differ across households, and, how does a household rely on a particular economic activity in general and forest environmental resources in particular varies according to the household‟s resource endowment, demographic and economic characteristics of the household and exogenous factors such as markets, prices and technologies

„Rural dwellers in tropical forest regions rely on forests to support their incomes They use forest products for subsistence or for sales in markets To improve forest livelihoods, it is important to understand what factors influence the income derived from forests Total income and income from forest resources among rural dwellers in tropical forest regions are influenced not only by market access and prices, but also by organizational, institutional, and social factors These factors influence the diversity of resources to which the poor have access and result in specializations in livelihood strategies „(Zenteno et al., 2013)

Empirical findings have proved that household characteristics such as household size, age and sex of the household head, education status, asset holdings and other income opportunities are found to have influenced on household‟s decision on forest resources uses (McElwee, 2008; Kamanga et al., 2009; Tesfaye et al., 2011; Tumusiime et al., 2011) For example forest income study in Vietnam by McElwee (2008) had stressed on the significant relationship between age of the household heads and the use of forest resource by the households McElwee (2008) found out that younger households (household head < 30 years old) depend more on forest extraction due to the fact that they are less accessible to the government jobs and local wage labour than middle-aged and older households The same results appeared in case study by Tesfaye et al (2011) in Ethiopia where older households dependent less on forest income since they are not able to do forest works as much

as the youngers do However, the world-bank‟s meta-analysis of forest income by Vedeld et al (2004) did not reveal household age as a significant factor influencing forest incomes

Size of the household, sex and education of the household heads are also observed in most studies to have significant influence on household‟s forest income (Babulo et al., 2008; Kamanga et al., 2009; Tesfaye et al., 2011; Tumusiime et al., 2011) Babulo et al (2008) explained that larger households are more likely to engage in forest-related activities as a dominant strategy since they normally have larger number of members who are not skillful to participate in high income earning activities other than forest activities Also male headed households and educated household heads have higher chance to get involved in skillful jobs and thus are less involved in low-return forest activities (Kamanga et al., 2009; Tumusiime et al., 2011) Other factors such as size of land and livestock holding units also have significant influences on households‟ dependence on forest income where the first two factors provide households with higher income earning opportunities on agriculture and livestock in order to be less dependent on forest income (Babulo et al., 2008; McElwee, 2008; Tumusiime etal., 2011) (Khaine et al.2014) also stated that local people who have low income and no alternative income opportunities are more dependent on forests for their economies than high-income population

2.7 Participation of Local Communities in Forest Resources Management

According to Barnejee et al (1997) participation in forest resources management refers to the active involvement of various stakeholders in defining forest sector and conservation objectives, determining beneficiaries, managing forest resources, resolving conflicts over forest uses, and monitoring and evaluating the performance of forestry and biodiversity conservation projects

„Local people are located very close to natural resources They can supervise resource management better than central government officials, who have legal authority over vast area Decentralization can also lead to equitable distribution of the benefits from natural resources This will lead to an improvement in the livelihood of forest users In some areas local people were working as guards, and deforestation rates in such areas were generally lower than in areas where only government guards worked.‟ (Teye 2008) In the absence of local stakeholders in forest management and development processes, forest reserves and off-reserve

forests are continuously subjected to encroachment by fringe communities (Glover, 2005)

„Sustainable management of forest reserve is linked to participation of dependent communities in the management and the utilization of benefits to improve livelihoods Sustainable forest reserve is an integral component of development and cannot be isolated from the surrounding areas and communities‟ (Alhassan 2010) Literature reviewed for this study has focused on socio-demographic and economic factors affecting participation Findings of several empirical studies demonstrate the importance of socio-economic, cultural, political, and institutional policies in developing countries influencing local people participation in managing forests (Maskey et al., 2003) Social indicators turn out to

forest-be the main consideration in participation and economic indicators follow as the second most important consideration (Lise, 2000) Among social factors, education has been reported to influence stakeholder‟s participation in forest management (Lise, 2000; Glendinning et al., 2001; Owubah et al., 2001; Chowdhury, 2004) but Kugonza et al (2009) reported that voluntary participation is not affected by education Apart from education, Lise (2000) including Maskey et al (2003) reported that the level of community participation is determined by the benefits obtained from forests or high dependency on forest or good forest quality It argues that when people‟s dependency on forests is high, their interest in forests is likely to

be greater, including people to participate in forest management and protection activities

In another study on factors influencing people‟s participation in forest management, the influence of age on participation in forestry activities was unclear Some of the researchers found out that age had no influence on forest management (Thacher et al., 1996; Kugonza et al., 2009) Contrary to this finding, Atmis et al (2007) reported that age is an important variable in explaining participation Kugonza et al (2009) study on community involvement reported that forest-dependent communities‟ participation in forest resources management is not affected by gender In another studies by Lise (2000) and Phiri (2009) gender was

positively and significant associated with the extent of participation In a similar study, Maskey et al., (2003) reported that women participate more than men because of advocacy on importance of women participation by many instiutions

Several studies done on people‟s participation including Holmes (2007) and Kugonaza et al (2009) also reported that proximity of forest-dependent communities to forests has positive association with the participation Holmes (2007) reported that the further communities are from the forest resource, the less they interact with the resources Sustainable forest management could not be achieved without the active participation of all relevant stakeholders and that forests can contribute significantly to poverty alleviation among forest-dependent communities.‟ (Wily, 2001)

Chapter 3 METHODOLOGY

3.1 Description of Study Area

Main goal of this study is to assess the forest resources exploitation and management towards sustainable forest management in Myanmar Regarding the goal and objectives, study should be focused on particular area of Myanmar 'The Republic of the Union of Myanmar is geographically located in Southeast Asia between latitudes 9 32' and 28 31' N and longitudes 92 10' E and 101 11' E The total area of Myanmar is 676,577 km2 and it stretches for 936 km from east to west and 2,051 km from north to south' (FD 2010)

This study was carried out in Pale Township, Sagaing Region, Myanmar Even though Pale Township is situated within Yinmabin District according to administrative area, it is under the co-supervision of Monywa District Forest Department and Yinmabin District Forest Department for forest management Selection of Pale Township for the case study is based on the following reasons; forest vegetation in this study area are under severe anthropogenic threat from unwise public and private uses i.e illegal logging, fuel-wood collection and encroachment into the reserved forests by the local forest communities at an unsustainable rate, mainly owing to the limited livelihood options Moreover, there

is no research relating to forest management in this area It is also based on my interest to examine people's participation in forest resources exploitation and management in this area In addition, this township is proposed to select because of

my desire to examine the topic in an environment where I can freely interact with the people and understand them as well Besides, availability of resources and data, financial constraints and time frame for the research are additional issues that led to the selection of the study area

According to the Pale Township Forest Department, Pale township is located between latitudes 21 48'N and 22 10' N and longitudes 94 25' E and 94 55' E and

454 feet above sea level The highest mountain is 4378 ft The total area of Pale Township is 612.79 square mile (equal to 392298 acres/158757.51 ha) and total population is 156,269 for 2 quarters and 58 village tracts amar is the main ethnicity and the others are Chin and Shan ethnic The average rainfall is 35 inches

and the temperature ranges from 15 C to 44 C

Forest cover status and land use conditions of study area are; good forests (56387 acres equal to 22819.03 ha), poor forests (95292 acres equal to 38563.34 ha), taungya (28328 acres equal to 11463 ha), agricultural land (131852 acres equal

to 53358.66 ha), water (9048 acres 3661 ha) and others (71391 acres equal to 28890.94 ha) (FD 2017) Forest land is 27.34% of the total township area Major forest types are moist upper mixed deciduous forest, dry upper mixed deciduous

forest, Deciduous dipterocarp or indaing forest and pine forest Deciduous forests

are composed of several commercially valuable timber species including Teak

(Tectona grandis) and other hardwood species such as Myanmar Ironwood (Xylia xylocarpa), Burmese Rosewood (Dalbergia oliveri), Burma Padauk (Pterocarpus macrocarpus) Major forest products are timber, poles, posts, bamboo, rattan, fire-

wood, charcoal and other now-timber forest products (NTFPs) such as wildlife animals, honey bee, resin, bark, medicinal plants, mushroom, bamboo shoot and other edible plants Reserved forests (RF) and protected public forest (PPF) in the study area are as shown in the figure 3.1 and table 3.1

Figure 3 1: Location of Study Area

Table 3.1: Reserved Forests and Protected Public Forest in Pale Township

No Name of

RF/PPF

Area (acre) Area (ha) Forest Type

1 North Yama

Moist/Dry Upper Mixed Deciduous Forest, Pine Forest

2 Sindone RF 19084 7723.03 Moist/Dry Upper Mixed

Deciduous Forest, Indaing forest

3 Satha 24995 10115.13 Dry Upper Mixed Deciduous

Forest

4 Legan RF 14839 6005.14 Indaing Forest

5 Khin Aye RF 32271 13059.62 Moist/Dry Upper Mixed

Deciduous Forest

Total 147576 59721.95

6 Satha PPF 10003 4048.07 Dry Upper Mixed Deciduous

Forest, Indaing forest

Source (FD 2017)

3.2 Research Design and Approaches

Both qualitative and quantitative approaches are applied in this study To do good research, we need to use both the qualitative and the quantitative methods since qualitative research allows for a detailed explanation of event and quantitative research is good at summarizing more data and making generalizations (Eshun 2008) The qualitative approach uses soft data (description) whereas the quantitative approach uses hard data (numbers) for its purpose „In social science, qualitative approach is defined as a mean for exploring and understanding the meaning of individuals or groups attributed to a social or human problem, while quantitative approach include testing objective theories by examining the relationship among variables In qualitative approach, the process of research include defining research questions, data collection particularly in the participant‟s setting, inductive analysis

of data and interpretations of the meaning of the data In contrast, quantitative approaches usually test the theories deductively, build in protections against bias, control for alternative explanations, and generalize and replicate the findings The strength and usefulness of the two approaches are well known In general,

qualitative approach is exploratory and is useful when the researcher does not know the important variables to examine, whereas quantitative one is regarded to be the best approach to test a theory or explanation However, in some cases, it is necessary to combine these two approaches especially when application of one approach only is not sufficient to best understand the research problem.‟ (Creswell, 2009)

Creswell (2009) identifies two strategies for quantitative approach, namely experiment and field survey; and five different strategies for qualitative approach which are ethnography, grounded theory, case studies, phenomenological research, and narrative research In recent days, the combinations of two or three strategies are used in most researches; for example a combination of quantitative surveys with the qualitative key informant interviews and focus group discussions in household livelihood studies (McElwee, 2010: Tesfaye et al., 2011; Tumusiime et al., 2011) 'Qualitative methods consist of three kinds of data collection First; in-depth, open ended interviews, second; direct observation, and third; written documents' (Patton 1990) Many kinds of interviews range from informal to formal; informal, conversational interviews, general interview, standardize open-ended interviews and the close-fixed response interviews (Platton 1990) 'An interview is not just an interview There are questions on experience and behavior, on opinions and values,

on feelings, on needs, knowledge and background data, there are presupposition questions and neutral question, simulation questions, etc and questions may address the past, present or future' (Mikkelsen 2002) According to Butt 2006, one of the advantages of this kind of research is that inconsistencies in the answers can be cleared by asking more probing questions However, one of the disadvantages of the approach is that the presence of the researcher might unconsciously influence the answers to the questions asked During fieldwork the questions asked can be changed to adjust to new experiences

The rationale behind using the qualitative research methodology and the case study approach is to be able to investigate the complexity of the socio-economic interrelationship between the forest resources and local inhabitants, whose daily

lives are directly dependent on these forests, in both place and time 'Personal observations and in-depth interviews and the flexibility (adjustability to the field situation) of the research work are the real strengths of the case study approach (Butt 2006) Though a case-study will not give generalized statistical data, it can provide valuable insights (Nichols 2002) „Case study method provides the holistic and meaningful information on the characteristics of real-life events Case study can provide additional indication of the prevalence of the phenomenon, while case study allows some insight into the casual processes.‟ Yin (2003)

„ asically, two types of survey designs are used for case study namely experimental design and descriptive design Descriptive design produces information on groups and phenomenon that already exist.‟ (Fink, 1995) So, descriptive design is suitable to be applied in this research to have information on socio-economic status and forest resources exploitation of households in the case study area

3.3 Data Collection

3.3.1 Primary Data Collection

Both qualitative and quantitative methods of data collection were applied during field data collection These methods include direct observations, focus group discussions, key informant interviews and household face-to-face interviews Detailed descriptions of these methods conducted during the field data collection are discussed in the following section

Selection of Sample: In order to conduct field surveys, a total of eight

villages which are situated in and around the reserved forests with 211 respondents were selected for the research Respondents were selected by a simple random sampling method with 10% of total households in each village In order to select participants for focus group discussions, key informants, non-probability samplings were used through purposive sampling method Neuman (2006) has stated that the use purposive a sampling allows to achieve the chance for in-depth investigation of target samples and to avoid the samples that seriously misrepresent the population

Table 3.2: Numbers of Households and Sampling Intensity in each Village

No Village name Location Total no

of HHs

No of selected HHs

Total in

or around

RF

Sampling proportion (%)

Source (Field Survey, 2018)

Figure 3 2: Location of Villages; inside and outside Reserved Forests

1 - Aye Chan Thar

Direct Observation: After the study villages had been selected, qualitative

observation methods were applied to capture general information on the village and

to cope with the real situation of the households and forest dependent activities According to Creswell (2009), “qualitative observations are those in which researcher takes field notes on the behavior and individuals at the research site in which cases the role of the observer will vary from non-participant to complete participant” The major advantage of taking observations in the field is that it can often provide additional information about the topic such as some relevant behaviors of the local communities or the actual conditions of the environment (Yin, 2003) Both participant and non-participant observation methods were applied during field observations With the use of direct observation method, information such as forest types, resource status, market accessibility, transportation possibilities, households‟ daily livelihoods activities including their assets status and forest use activities were observed

Key informant Interview Using Semi-structured Checklists: Key informant

interviews using semi-structured checklists (Appendix II) were conducted with three forest staff (one Staff officer, two Range Officers), two village tract leaders and two community forestry user group members The total number of key persons

to be interviewed for this activity is 7 „It is often possible to collect valuable information from a few members of the community who are particularly knowledgeable about certain matters Key informant interviews aim to obtain special knowledge Key informants have special knowledge on a given topic They are not necessarily the leaders‟ (Mikkelsen 2002) The main advantages of such interviews are that researcher can ask not only about the facts of the matter but also their opinions about events Furthermore the respondents can suggest other suitable key persons or sources of information (Yin, 2003)

Household face-to-face Interviews: The structured questionnaire format

(Appendix I) was used in conducting household level interview with selected respondents Total 211 respondents from eight villages were interviewed The contents of questionnaires were first developed based on the literature reviews The

questionnaire mainly consists of three portions The first portion was designed to collect the general information about the respondent and household characteristics i.e age, gender, education, occupation, income and expenditure The second portion consists of forest resources extraction and third portion consists of the perceptions

of local people on forest management Face-to-face interviews with structured questionnaires were applied in this research The strength of this method is highlighted by Neuman (2006) as “face-to-face interviews have the highest response rates, permit the longest questionnaires and allow the interviewers to observe the surroundings and to use non-verbal communication with visual aids” Besides, face-to-face interviews could eliminate the problems of incomplete questionnaires or misunderstanding of the questions by respondents (Neuman, 2006) However, in this type of surveys, the role of interviewer is critical so as to avoid interviewer bias while conducting surveys (Fink, 1995; Neuman, 2006) Before having asked survey questions, it was essential to explain first that this study

is purely scientific for academic purpose and there will be no legal implications and also the responses will be treated anonymously and with confidentiality

Focus Group Discussions: Focus group discussions were conducted in order

to get insight information about the particular topics to deal with some issues after the household level interviews In most cases, the researcher raised particular topics

of interest and after that the discussion was opened for the participants During and after the discussions the researcher recorded the outcomes of discussion points and sometimes re-clarifies some points with the participants

3.3.2 Secondary Data Collection

Secondary Data collection is aimed to obtain data from existing sources like government departments, NGOs and private sectors, and published and unpublished literatures related to the research as much as possible There has not been a scientific research in this study area in the past, especially on sustainable forest management So, available secondary data were collected from local forest department to supplement the primary data Secondary data included documents

relating to forest policy, law and rules for forestry sector, the status of reserved forests and protected public forest, District and Township Forest Management Plan, published and unpublished reports and Pale township profile Theories, principles and past findings and other useful information related to the research were collected through reading journals, articles, research paper, books, reports, thesis and visiting the relevant internet websites

3.4 Data Processing and Data Analysis

Data analysis is the process of bringing order to the data, organizing what is there into patterns, categories and basic descriptive units (Patton, 1988) Data analysis was done by the use of both qualitative and quantitative methods Data interpretation will be in terms of both quantitative and qualitative forms

3.4.1 Quantitative Data Analysis

Quantitatively, both descriptive and explanatory statistical tools of the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) version 20 and Microsoft offices excel were used to carry out frequency analysis, descriptive statistics, crosstab analysis (Chi-square test), independent sample t-test, ANOVA (single factor) and Chi-square test of associations To assess the characteristics of households such as age, sex, household size, education level, occupation, main income sources, monthly income, monthly expenditure and forest resources exploitation, frequency table and descriptive statistics were applied Independent sample t-test was used to compare the income from forest products corresponding to location of village, gender The differences in income from forest products collection across different villages, education level, age class and household size can be tested by the use of one-way ANOVA (single factor) Descriptive statistics, Chi-square test (cross-tabulation) were used to identify factors influencing the participation of local community in forest management activities The results are presented in tables and displayed on charts The statistical presentation helped identify the frequencies of the study‟s findings, distributions and the relationships between the variables measured

3.4.2 Qualitative Data Analysis

The qualitative analysis helped in evaluation the findings in quantitative analysis and identifying the reasons why the results in quantitative analysis were found Qualitative data analysis was made through analyzing information obtained from focus group discussion, key informant interviews and field observations by using content analysis Content analysis can also be used to know the perception of people on sustainable forest management Content analysis is a general term for a number of different strategies used to analyze text (Powers & Knapp 2006).Forest policy and forest management in terms of sustainable forest management were assessed based on SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats)