ABSTRACT

Globally, community involvement in forest management has been hailed as an effective strategy to achieve both conservation and livelihoods improvement goals. In Uganda, Collaborative Forest Management (CFM) has been promoted to enable registered local community groups to co-manage specified areas of state forests with state agencies. However, there is paucity of empirical research evidence on conservation outcomes that are attributable to CFM. To fill this gap, this study used forest inventory data collected in compartments under different forest management regimes (CFM, inactive-CFM, and non-CFM) in 2003 and 2016 to assess spatial and temporal changes in forest structural attributes in a semideciduous forest in mid-western Uganda. Our ordination results show significant changes in tree communities in the non-CFM compartment. The CFM compartment registered a net increase in basal area. We attribute these changes to the high rate of illegal timber extraction and charcoal processing, with signs of the latter only recorded in the inactive- and non-CFM compartments. Illegal timber extraction was perpetuated by powerful outsiders while charcoal processing was dominated by local area residents for cash income. Deliberate management interventions should be instituted to curb illegal human activities and enhance regeneration and recruitment of target tree species in the forest.

摘要

在全球范围内，社区参与森林管理被誉为实现保护和改善生计目标的有效战略。在乌干达，协作森林管理 (CFM) 已得到推广，以使注册的当地社区团体能够与国家机构共同管理国家森林的特定区域。然而，关于可归因于 CFM 的保护结果的实证研究证据很少。为了填补这一空白，本研究使用了 2003 年和 2016 年在不同森林管理制度（CFM、非活动 CFM 和非 CFM）下收集的森林清单数据，以评估半落叶林中森林结构属性的时空变化。乌干达中西部。我们的排序结果显示非 CFM 隔间中的树木群落发生了显着变化。CFM 隔室的基底面积净增加。我们将这些变化归因于非法木材开采和木炭加工的高比率，后者的迹象仅记录在非活动和非 CFM 隔间中。非法木材开采由强大的外来者长期存在，而木炭加工则由当地居民主导以获取现金收入。应采取审慎的管理干预措施，遏制非法的人类活动，并加强森林中目标树种的再生和补充。非法木材开采由强大的外来者长期存在，而木炭加工则由当地居民主导以获取现金收入。应采取审慎的管理干预措施，遏制非法的人类活动，并加强森林中目标树种的再生和补充。非法木材开采由强大的外来者长期存在，而木炭加工则由当地居民主导以获取现金收入。应采取审慎的管理干预措施，遏制非法的人类活动，并加强森林中目标树种的再生和补充。