Evaluation of Forest Preservation in Cambodian Rural Villages

Abstract

Forest preservation in Cambodian rural villages is empirically investigated using contingent valuation method. The article’s findings are as follows. First, the participation of local residents in forest preservation differs according to the nature of the relevant activity (i.e., whether it is tree planting, forestry management, or refraining from logging). Second, participation in forest preservation differs according to socioeconomic attributes such as gender, age, number of household members, household income, education level, occupation, and purpose of forest use. Third, unlike in previous studies, it was found that education level and household income are not necessarily significant factors in participation in forest preservation.

Volume 19 : 2021 Issue 3

“…According to the critics, the tasks asked in WTW studies should be designed to suit the valuation project. For instance, voluntary work could comprise tree planting, forest management, or the number of days refraining from logging (Ishiguro, 2019). Voluntary work could also encompass environmental clean-ups and health advocacy activities (Saizan et al, 2019), labor-meal, or providing meals for workers participating in the village development program (Diafas et al, 2017).…”

“…In most cases, in addition to socioeconomic variables, other specific variables pertinent to the research are also included. They include landholding size (Das & Mahanta, 2013;Girma & Beyene, 2012;Schiappacasse et al, 2013), village-type (Das & Mahanta, 2013), house type (Jiang, 2018), ethnicity (Girma & Beyene, 2012), length of stay (Girma & Beyene, 2012;O'Garra, 2009;Solikin, 2017) and type of forest use (Ishiguro, 2019). As a result, the WTP and WTW determinants could be different (Solikin, 2017) or similar (Dai et al, 2017).…”

“…Regarding this, Dai et al (2017) found that 73.57% of respondents were willing to contribute labor, while 55.65% were willing to contribute financially. Moreover, Ishiguro (2019) showed percentages of respondents willing to participate in voluntary works in several villages in Cambodia. The study showed that 78% of respondents were willing to participate in forest preservation two days per year, 44% in forest management one day every two years, and 57% refraining from logging three days each month.…”