Abstract Good forest governance is a prerequisite for sustainable forest management and the successful implementation of initiatives that aim to reduce deforestation and forest degradation. The necessity for good governance is high in Zambia´s Miombo ecoregion, which is characterised by persistent deforestation that also threatens forest-dependent livelihoods. Zambia has adopted policies and initiatives to improve forest governance. We use the Governance of Forests Initiatives (GFI) indicator framework from the World Resource Institute in 24 communities in the Miombo ecoregion to examine Zambia´s status in this respect. The Wilcoxon rank test is applied to compare the de facto governance performance between different arrangements with differing tenures and restrictions to forest access and use. We employ factor analysis to test the applicability of the GFI framework based on community perceptions and cluster analysis to examine whether patterns of community clusters reflect the governance structure of the provincial local government administration. Comparative results show low mean scores for governance indicators, which do not differ significantly between arrangements. This indicates a weak de facto forest governance performance across arrangements, specifically characterised by an inadequate enforcement of rules and restrictions on use, insufficient institutional financial, human and technical capacities and unsatisfactory participatory land use planning and forest policy-making processes. We recommend support for financial and technical institutional capacities combined with coordination mechanisms to permit the satisfactory enforcement of forest rules. Frequent monitoring, apprehension and graduated sanctions are proposed as part of the rule enforcement procedures. Stringent de jure requirements coupled with capacity building for participatory land use planning and public policy participation also need to be adopted. This would also contribute towards achieving targets for Zambia´s climate change response strategy, national development plan 2017–2021 and REDD + preparedness phase. The factor analysis largely confirms the GFI framework’s suitability for governance analysis on the ground since factors generally mirror GFI indicators. However, because de facto governance processes sometimes do not precisely reflect thematic areas of the framework, we warn against the use of single indicators to exclusively represent a thematic area. Similarly, specific attention has to be paid to customary rules and institutions when applying the GFI framework because compared to the framework, the respective aspects are more clearly differentiated on the ground. Cluster analysis reveals a high variability of governance processes within and across provinces. Decentralization measures should take into account clusters that may in some cases follow administrative levels or in other cases go beyond the established administrative boundaries. Specifically, initiatives to integrate customary structures into the decentralized governance structure should take these regional differences into account.

中文翻译：

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探索森林治理质量模式：来自赞比亚 Miombo 生态区森林边境社区的见解

摘要 良好的森林治理是可持续森林管理和成功实施旨在减少森林砍伐和森林退化的举措的先决条件。赞比亚的 Miombo 生态区非常需要善治，该生态区的特点是持续的森林砍伐，也威胁到依赖森林的生计。赞比亚已采取政策和举措来改善森林治理。我们使用世界资源研究所在 Miombo 生态区 24 个社区的森林治理倡议 (GFI) 指标框架来检查赞比亚在这方面的状况。Wilcoxon 等级检验用于比较具有不同权属和森林获取和使用限制的不同安排之间的实际治理绩效。我们使用因子分析来检验基于社区认知和集群分析的 GFI 框架的适用性，以检验社区集群的模式是否反映了省级地方政府的治理结构。比较结果显示治理指标的平均得分较低，在不同安排之间没有显着差异。这表明不同安排的事实上的森林治理绩效薄弱，具体特点是规则和使用限制执行不力，机构财政、人力和技术能力不足，参与性土地使用规划和森林决策过程不令人满意。我们建议支持与协调机制相结合的财政和技术机构能力，以便令人满意地执行森林规则。建议将频繁的监控、逮捕和分级制裁作为规则执行程序的一部分。还需要通过严格的法律要求以及参与性土地利用规划和公共政策参与的能力建设。这也将有助于实现赞比亚的气候变化应对战略、2017-2021 年国家发展计划和 REDD + 准备阶段的目标。因素分析在很大程度上证实了 GFI 框架适用于实地治理分析，因为因素通常反映 GFI 指标。然而，由于事实上的治理过程有时不能准确反映框架的专题领域，我们警告不要使用单一指标来专门代表一个专题领域。同样，在应用 GFI 框架时，必须特别注意习惯规则和制度，因为与框架相比，各个方面在实地区分得更清楚。聚类分析揭示了省内和省间治理过程的高度可变性。权力下放措施应考虑到在某些情况下可能遵循行政级别或在其他情况下超出既定行政边界的集群。具体而言，将习惯结构纳入分散治理结构的举措应考虑到这些区域差异。