IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/forpol/v104y2019icp81-92.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Assessing the potential of community-based forestry programs in Panama

Author

Listed:
  • Clare, Stephen M.
  • Ruiz-Jaen, Maria C.
  • Hickey, Gordon M.

Abstract

Community-based forestry (CBF) policies have been widely adopted as potentially-effective sustainable natural resource management strategies. Since communities can have local knowledge and a stake in the long-term sustainability of the resource base, CBF is thought to produce better social and environmental outcomes. In practice, though, successful implementation has been inconsistent. Panama, a country experiencing widespread degradation and loss of tropical forests and high rates of rural poverty, has been identified as potentially benefiting from CBF programs. As a result, prominent forest policy actors have been piloting CBF projects to assess the potential for upscaling. This paper reports on these initiatives and reflects on Panama's readiness to support widespread CBF program adoption. Using empirical data collected through key informant interviews, document analysis and observation, we apply an analytical framework originally developed for the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) that identifies six “keys” that a country must possess to remove the major impediments to robust CBF. Based on our case study analysis, none of the keys to effective CBF could be assessed as fully present in Panama, and a seventh potential key labelled ‘Economic Viability’ was identified to assess market competitiveness and economic sustainability. Our results suggest that CBF's ability to drive sustainable rural development and forest conservation in Panama is likely limited. However, a dynamic policy environment and supportive government also suggest that the keys to effective CBF can be attained with time and effort.

Suggested Citation

  • Clare, Stephen M. & Ruiz-Jaen, Maria C. & Hickey, Gordon M., 2019. "Assessing the potential of community-based forestry programs in Panama," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 104(C), pages 81-92.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:forpol:v:104:y:2019:i:c:p:81-92
    DOI: 10.1016/j.forpol.2019.04.004
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1389934118301503
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.forpol.2019.04.004?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Barrett, Christopher B. & Lee, David R. & McPeak, John G., 2005. "Institutional Arrangements for Rural Poverty Reduction and Resource Conservation," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 33(2), pages 193-197, February.
    2. Sunderlin, William D., 2006. "Poverty alleviation through community forestry in Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam: An assessment of the potential," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 8(4), pages 386-396, June.
    3. Mollie Chapman & Susanna Klassen & Maayan Kreitzman & Adrian Semmelink & Kelly Sharp & Gerald Singh & Kai M. A. Chan, 2017. "5 Key Challenges and Solutions for Governing Complex Adaptive (Food) Systems," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 9(9), pages 1-30, September.
    4. Agarwal, Bina, 2001. "Participatory Exclusions, Community Forestry, and Gender: An Analysis for South Asia and a Conceptual Framework," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 29(10), pages 1623-1648, October.
    5. Richard Gauld, 2000. "Maintaining Centralized Control in Community‐based Forestry: Policy Construction in the Philippines," Development and Change, International Institute of Social Studies, vol. 31(1), pages 229-254, January.
    6. Rammel, Christian & Stagl, Sigrid & Wilfing, Harald, 2007. "Managing complex adaptive systems -- A co-evolutionary perspective on natural resource management," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 63(1), pages 9-21, June.
    7. Tschakert, Petra & Coomes, Oliver T. & Potvin, Catherine, 2007. "Indigenous livelihoods, slash-and-burn agriculture, and carbon stocks in Eastern Panama," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(4), pages 807-820, February.
    8. Schusser, Carsten & Krott, Max & Movuh, Mbolo C. Yufanyi & Logmani, Jacqueline & Devkota, Rosan R. & Maryudi, Ahmad & Salla, Manjola, 2016. "Comparing community forestry actors in Cameroon, Indonesia, Namibia, Nepal and Germany," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 81-87.
    9. Pandit, Ram & Bevilacqua, Eddie, 2011. "Forest users and environmental impacts of community forestry in the hills of Nepal," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(5), pages 345-352, June.
    10. Sapkota, Prativa & Keenan, Rodney J. & Ojha, Hemant R., 2018. "Community institutions, social marginalization and the adaptive capacity: A case study of a community forestry user group in the Nepal Himalayas," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 55-64.
    11. Moktan, Mani Ram & Norbu, Lungten & Choden, Kunzang, 2016. "Can community forestry contribute to household income and sustainable forestry practices in rural area? A case study from Tshapey and Zariphensum in Bhutan," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 62(C), pages 149-157.
    12. Basnyat, Bijendra & Treue, Thorsten & Pokharel, Ridish Kumar & Lamsal, Lok Nath & Rayamajhi, Santosh, 2018. "Legal-sounding bureaucratic re-centralisation of community forestry in Nepal," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 91(C), pages 5-18.
    13. Pokharel, Ridish K., 2012. "Factors influencing the management regime of Nepal's community forestry," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 17(C), pages 13-17.
    14. Humphries, Shoana & Holmes, Thomas P. & Kainer, Karen & Koury, Carlos Gabriel Gonçalves & Cruz, Edson & de Miranda Rocha, Rosana, 2012. "Are community-based forest enterprises in the tropics financially viable? Case studies from the Brazilian Amazon," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 62-73.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Trejos, Bernardo & Flores, Juan Carlos, 2021. "Influence of property rights on performance of community-based forest devolution policies in Honduras," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Shrestha, Krishna K. & Paudel, Govinda & Ojha, Hemant & Paudel, Naya Sharma & Nuberg, Ian & Cedamon, Edwin, 2022. "Community entrepreneurship: Lessons from Nepal's Chaubas community forestry sawmill," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 141(C).
    2. Lacuna-Richman, Celeste & Devkota, Bishnu P. & Richman, Mark A., 2016. "Users' priorities for good governance in community forestry: Two cases from Nepal's Terai Region," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 69-78.
    3. Basnyat, Bijendra & Treue, Thorsten & Pokharel, Ridish Kumar & Baral, Srijana & Rumba, Yam Bahadur, 2020. "Re-centralisation through fake Scientificness: The case of community forestry in Nepal," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    4. Paudel, Ganesh & Bhusal, Prabin & Kimengsi, Jude Ndzifon, 2021. "Determining the costs and benefits of Scientific Forest Management in Nepal," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 126(C).
    5. Waldhoff, Philippe & Vidal, Edson, 2015. "Community loggers attempting to legalize traditional timber harvesting in the Brazilian Amazon: An endless path," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 50(C), pages 311-318.
    6. Sayuni B. Mariki, 2013. "Conservation With a Human Face? Comparing Local Participation and Benefit Sharing From a National Park and a State Forest Plantation in Tanzania," SAGE Open, , vol. 3(4), pages 21582440135, November.
    7. Trejos, Bernardo & Flores, Juan Carlos, 2021. "Influence of property rights on performance of community-based forest devolution policies in Honduras," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 124(C).
    8. Lucungu, Prince Baraka & Dhital, Narayan & Asselin, Hugo & Kibambe, Jean-Paul & Ngabinzeke, Jean Semeki & Khasa, Damase P., 2022. "Local perception and attitude toward community forest concessions in the Democratic Republic of Congo," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 139(C).
    9. Macqueen, Duncan & Bolin, Anna & Greijmans, Martin & Grouwels, Sophie & Humphries, Shoana, 2020. "Innovations towards prosperity emerging in locally controlled forest business models and prospects for scaling up," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 125(C).
    10. Sapkota, Prativa & Keenan, Rodney J. & Ojha, Hemant R., 2018. "Community institutions, social marginalization and the adaptive capacity: A case study of a community forestry user group in the Nepal Himalayas," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 92(C), pages 55-64.
    11. Fatem, Sepus M. & Awang, San A. & Pudyatmoko, Satyawan & Sahide, Muhammad A.K. & Pratama, Andita A. & Maryudi, Ahmad, 2018. "Camouflaging economic development agendas with forest conservation narratives: A strategy of lower governments for gaining authority in the re-centralising Indonesia," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 699-710.
    12. St. Clair, Priscilla Cooke, 2016. "Community forest management, gender and fuelwood collection in rural Nepal," Journal of Forest Economics, Elsevier, vol. 24(C), pages 52-71.
    13. Siriluck Thammanu & Hee Han & E. M. B. P. Ekanayake & Yoonkoo Jung & Joosang Chung, 2021. "The Impact on Ecosystem Services and the Satisfaction Therewith of Community Forest Management in Northern Thailand," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(23), pages 1-31, December.
    14. Davis, Emily Jane & Hajjar, Reem & Charnley, Susan & Moseley, Cassandra & Wendel, Kendra & Jacobson, Meredith, 2020. "Community-based forestry on federal lands in the western United States: A synthesis and call for renewed research," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    15. Stanzel, Jens & Krott, Max & Schusser, Carsten, 2020. "Power alliances for biodiversity—Results of an international study on community forestry," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    16. Agrawal, Arun & Yadama, Gautam & Andrade, Raul & Bhattacharya, Ajoy, 2006. "Decentralization and environmental conservation: gender effects from participation in joint forest management," CAPRi working papers 53, International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI).
    17. Lauren Pandolfelli & Ruth Meinzen-Dick & Stephan Dohrn, 2008. "Gender and collective action: motivations, effectiveness and impact," Journal of International Development, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 20(1), pages 1-11.
    18. Schusser, Carsten, 2013. "Who determines biodiversity? An analysis of actors' power and interests in community forestry in Namibia," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 36(C), pages 42-51.
    19. Pandit, Ram & Bevilacqua, Eddie, 2011. "Forest users and environmental impacts of community forestry in the hills of Nepal," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(5), pages 345-352, June.
    20. Alkire, Sabina & Meinzen-Dick, Ruth & Peterman, Amber & Quisumbing, Agnes & Seymour, Greg & Vaz, Ana, 2013. "The Women’s Empowerment in Agriculture Index," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 52(C), pages 71-91.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:forpol:v:104:y:2019:i:c:p:81-92. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/locate/forpol .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.