Local People Attitudes towards Community Forestry Practices: A Case Study of Kosti Province-Central Sudan

Abstract

This paper examines the attitudes of local communities toward community forestry programmes implemented by a project under the CF approach in Kosti area, based on a survey of 100 people living there. The household was the basic unit of data collection; ten villages were selected as study localities. Ten respondents from each village were randomly chosen for the interview. Frequency distribution results showed that almost all the respondents have a particularly favourable perception of the community forestry programmes implemented and they perceive the best type of management for running these forests which is to be owned and managed by them. They participated in different programe activities and willing to further participation in tree planting activities. Women have possessed positive attitudes towards community forestry although they were not fully involved in community forestry Practices. Stepwise multiple linear regression analysis showed a statistical significant relation between some selected variables (Respondents age, educational level, main occupation, respondents indigenous knowledge, family uses of different forestry products, awareness of causes of forest destruction and finally respondents awareness of environmental problems) exerted important influences on the attitudes and participation of respondents. This study suggests that the project and the forest services should continue addressing local development needs, encourage women's participation in community forestry, and work toward dispute settlement of community forest-user groups, if it wants to win the support of local communities for long-term environmental conservation goals.

Perceived Influence of Socio-economic Factors of Fadama III Farmers on Forest Resources Values in Benue State, Nigeria

“…This knowledge was reflected by the number of uses they were able to mention and it was a manifestation that trees formed an integral part of their daily life. Similar experience was reported by Kobbail (2012) , a farmer is primarily interested in using forests for commercial use, to improve their economic well-being rather than other benefits like for the provision of environmental services (e.g. climate regulation, erosion control and biodiversity conservation).…”

Key factors which influence the success of community forestry in developing countries

“…CFGs build upon established systems of authority in villages and attendance at meetings does not automatically guarantee that women or people from low socio-economic groups will actively participate because they fear that their opinions will not be respected (Agarwal, 2001;Sunam and McCarthy, 2010;Kobbail, 2012). Access to CFG-managed forest resources is often not equitable but the CFGs are often stable because poor people have no choice and the hope to gain in the long run (Chakraborty, 2001; also see Persha and Andersson, 2014).…”

“…However, CFGs which build on existing power structures (usually male village leaders) are more stable and poor people often retain membership because they hope to gain in the long term (Chakraborty, 2001). Similarly, economic circumstances may push women to participate out of necessity (Agarwal, 2010) but land management practices may likely become less sustainable through opportunistic overharvesting (see Hébert and Rosen (2007) in Mexico; Agarwal (2001) and Persha and Andersson (2014) in Nepal; Kobbail (2012) in Sudan).…”

Restoration planning for climate change mitigation and adaptation in the city of Durban, South Africa

“…Therefore, the benefits that local communities derive from the BLSCRP are more likely to induce positive attitude towards the project. For example, in Kosti Province of White Nile area of Central Sudan, Kobbail (2012) found that local communities developed a positive attitude towards a reforestation project that addressed their socio-economic needs (e.g. employment creation, and food and medicinal plants privision).…”