Natural Resource Use Strategies in a Forest-Adjacent Ugandan Village

Abstract

This study documents natural resource use in a forest-adjacent western Ugandan village, and explains how what superficially appears to be a sustainable scenario is in fact quite unstable. Kibwona village is adjacent to Kasokwa Forest, comprised of a small Central Reserve owned by the National Forest Authority (NFA) and several contiguous community forests. Firewood and water collection is legal. However, empirical observations of women's daily activity budgets and details of resource acquisition show on average, women spent less than 5% of the time collecting natural resources. This is true for resources both in and out of the forest. This may be simply because firewood within household compounds, gardens and woodland-bush areas is abundant, accessible, and closer than the (also close) forest. However, two additional reasons for this behavior may, in fact, hinder long-term sustainability: (1) Many locals also plant eucalyptus trees for firewood, poles, and timber, which, although it is fast growing and makes good firewood, is water-draining and hard on the soils and thus a high cost to subsistence farmers. (2) Fears of harassment by NFA officials when collecting firewood inhibit local people from even entering the forest. Decentralized, collaborative forest management will not happen under oppressive and fear-based relationships, nor can a sustainable firewood supply be based on eucalyptus.

Gender and Sustainable Forest Management in East Africa and Latin America

“…The same labor constraint hypothesis may apply in any account that seeks to explain why predominantly female user groups perform poorly in monitoring and sanctioning than do mixed and predominantly male groups, especially because of distances to be covered and the perceived dangers of patrolling the forest or fears of women's harassment by local forestry officials (Watkins 2009). Alternatively, it may reflect a gendered disparity on whose authority counts in sanctioning infractions possibly because women prefer not to jeopardize their social networks through sanctioning because they may be more dependent on these networks than men (L. Pandolfelli, personal communication).…”

Traditional Water Resource Management and Water Quality in Rural Tanzania

“…Communities struggle to balance the finite supply of ecosystem services with growing populations (Watkins 2009). The decline in per capita natural resources, such as land, fuel, forage, building materials and water, can result in unsustainable resource use.…”

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“…Gender balance and participation in forest groups • Use complementary strengths (Watkins 2009) • Capacity to manage and resolve conflicts (Westermann et al 2005) • More likely to monitor forest resources and impose sanctions than male or female-dominated • Less likely to allow other groups to harvest from the forest than male or female-dominated • Tap into knowledge and services provided by external agencies • More likely to address topics of interest to families such as health, education and environment…”