Comparing forest product harvest rates and livelihood activities among migrant and Indigenous households in the Congo Basin

Understanding uneven patterns of forest use and tracking changes in the composition of forest residents are both important for sensitive forest policy and management. With increases in migration streams in several tropical forest regions, we need corresponding information about how new immigrants are influencing human-environment relations in sites of ecological significance. We use data from over 6500 household surveys collected by the Wildlife Conservation Society in three sites in Central Africa: the forests surrounding Nouabalé-Ndoki National Park and Lac Télé Community Reserve in the Republic of Congo, and the Okapi Wildlife Reserve in the Democratic Republic of Congo. We compare household characteristics, livelihoods, and forest use among recent migrants (arriving within the past decade), longer-established households, and households belonging to an Indigenous group. We find that recent migrants are less likely to engage in forest-harvest-based livelihoods and harvest several types of forest foods and fibers less frequently than other households. Recent migrants also tend to be wealthier, younger, and over-represented in salaried jobs. Meanwhile, Indigenous households are 3 to 16 times more likely to participate in a forest-based livelihood, depending on the site. Other consistent predictors of forest harvest include village, age of the household head, household size, whether a household is female-headed (−), and wealth (−). Many trends hold broadly across all three sites, but there are also site-specific patterns related to differences in remoteness and economic opportunities. We conclude with reflections about what the changing make-up of forest-proximate communities might mean for forest management and governance.