Socio-Economic Impacts of Livelihood from Fuelwood and Timber Consumption on the Sustainability of Forest Environment: Evidence from Basho Valley, Baltistan, Pakistan

Abstract

Forests across the world are considered to be a huge socio-economic and environmental benefit to host and adjacent communities. This study focuses on assessing the impacts of fuelwood and timber consumption on the livelihood of households in the Baltistan region in Pakistan. Primary and secondary sources of data were employed for the study. The primary sources involved the use of questionnaire survey and interview while the secondary sources involved the use of documented information in textbooks and internet materials. The study revealed that 82% of the people within the region were involved in agricultural activities, 71% depended on the extraction of forest resources for their livelihood, while 18% depended on off-farm activities for their livelihood. The study also observed that among the number that depended on forest resources for their livelihood, 59% were involved in the extraction of non-timber forest products while 41% were involved in the extraction of timber forest resources. The study further revealed that there was no significant difference in the level of benefits from the forest across the seven districts under investigation with a chi square value. The volume of forest products extraction was found to be high closest to the forest and to be low with increasing distance from the communities. The major benefits from the forest range were due to employment that increases the individual and family income. Forest also helps to control erosion and enhances aesthetic beautification and temperature regulation. The research suggests that the policy makers must provide a sustainable solution to reduce the overexploitation of the forest resources by providing better alternative earning resources to the resident communities.

Re-thinking on land degradation and its impacts on livelihoods of the farmers in Kanungu District, Uganda

“…Relatedly, according to Ullah et al (2021), the majority of deforestation activities are linked to rising demand for agricultural land, fuel charcoal, and timber cutting, as in the argument of Negassa et al (2020). Uitto (2019) noted that this typically occurs in the context of inadequate institutional forest preservation measures and that it is advisable to build on existing knowledge, which will involve looking at interactions to lessen environmental changes and human-induced activities.…”

Socio-economic factors affecting the use of non-timber forest products in swine production in the Colombian Amazon

“…In view of the above, Maua et al (2020) stated that the management of NTFP utilization should systematically and comprehensively consider the general, ecological, harvesting, cultural, social and market factors related to rural productive units. Likewise, Ullah et al (2021) and Alcântara et al (2022) considered that despite the difficulties of community organization, the use of forest resources is highly related to the socioeconomic and environmental benefits of local agricultural production systems.…”

Conservation of Forest, Based on a Fuelwood Substitute as Well as Considering the Cultural and Spiritual Values: An Optimal Fuelwood Harvest Model

“…A lot of literature has been devoted to understanding the impact of timber harvesting on the size and health of forest stock (Amacher, Ollikainen and Koskela, 2009;Faustmann, 1849;Hartman, 1976). However, in developing countries, one of the major reasons for deforestation is excessive fuelwood extraction (Pattanayak, Sills and Kramer, 2004;Lefevre, Todoc and Timilsina, 1997;Troncoso et al, 2007;Ullah et al, 2021). For instance, fuelwood constitutes 76.3% and Liquid Petroleum Gas (LPG) is only 11.5% of the energy mix in Indian rural households (National Sample Survey Organization (NSSO), 2012; .…”