IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/forpol/v95y2018icp123-137.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Evaluation of good governance in a participatory forestry program: A case study in Madhupur Sal forests of Bangladesh

Author

Listed:
  • Subhan Mollick, Abdus
  • Khalilur Rahman, Md.
  • Nabiul Islam Khan, Md.
  • Nazmus Sadath, Md.

Abstract

Participatory forestry programs in Bangladesh have been implemented since 1980’s to ensure forest conservation along with empowerment of local people, who depend on forest resources. Despite the establishment of legal and institutional frameworks for devolving a meaningful authority to local people, participatory forestry in Bangladesh has been facing many governance challenges. Therefore local people involvement in forest governance needs to be evaluated. A quantitative and qualitative research method has been applied to investigate a forest governance framework for evaluating the efficacy of participatory forestry in Bangladesh. Field data were collected by semi-structured interview of 120 local forest participants using scoring of qualitative data on a point scale (1–5).The study was based on the proposed modified framework for evaluation of good governance in terms of participation, transparency and efficiency. Analysis of data revealed that participation in benefit sharing received the highest score (3.90), while the lowest in the management committee meeting (2.12). Transparency in decision-making process received the lowest score (2.42). Similarly efficiency in handling tree farming fund (TFF) has the lowest score (2.35). In overall governance level, participation received the highest score (3.12), while transparency received the lowest (2.72). Findings indicate that poor governance still exists in participatory forestry program because of low level of participation and lack of transparency in handling tree farming fund (TFF). Therefore pragmatic approaches like strengthening monitoring mechanism, providing incentives for rule compliances need to be adopted to harness the benefit of good governance of a participatory forestry program. The findings of this study would be useful to forest policy-makers, development official and local forest practitioners in formulating effective policies for participatory forest management programs in Bangladesh and other developing countries. Our finding has also an implication on forest governance discourse in participatory forest management regimes.

Suggested Citation

  • Subhan Mollick, Abdus & Khalilur Rahman, Md. & Nabiul Islam Khan, Md. & Nazmus Sadath, Md., 2018. "Evaluation of good governance in a participatory forestry program: A case study in Madhupur Sal forests of Bangladesh," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 95(C), pages 123-137.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:forpol:v:95:y:2018:i:c:p:123-137
    DOI: 10.1016/j.forpol.2018.07.014
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1389934117305105
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1016/j.forpol.2018.07.014?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. Sadath, Md. Nazmus & Rahman, Sabrina, 2016. "Forest in crisis: 2 decades of media discourse analysis of Bangladesh print media," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 16-21.
    2. Salam, Md. Abdus & Noguchi, Toshikuni, 2006. "Evaluating capacity development for participatory forest management in Bangladesh's Sal forests based on `4Rs' stakeholder analysis," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 8(8), pages 785-796, November.
    3. Weber, Norbert, 2018. "Participation or involvement? Development of forest strategies on national and sub-national level in Germany," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 98-106.
    4. Persson, Joel & Prowse, Martin, 2017. "Collective action on forest governance: An institutional analysis of the Cambodian community forest system," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 70-79.
    5. Thomas C. Beierle & David M. Konisky, 2000. "Values, conflict, and trust in participatory environmental planning," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 19(4), pages 587-602.
    6. Adhikari, Bhim & Williams, Frances & Lovett, Jon C., 2007. "Local benefits from community forests in the middle hills of Nepal," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 9(5), pages 464-478, January.
    7. Beland Lindahl, Karin & Sandström, Camilla & Sténs, Anna, 2017. "Alternative pathways to sustainability? Comparing forest governance models," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 77(C), pages 69-78.
    8. Roy, Anjan Kumer Dev & Alam, Khorshed & Gow, Jeff, 2012. "A review of the role of property rights and forest policies in the management of the Sundarbans Mangrove Forest in Bangladesh," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 15(C), pages 46-53.
    9. Sadath, Md. Nazmus & Krott, Max, 2012. "Identifying policy change — Analytical program analysis: An example of two decades of forest policy in Bangladesh," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 25(C), pages 93-99.
    10. Biermann, Frank & Gupta, Aarti, 2011. "Accountability and legitimacy in earth system governance: A research framework," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(11), pages 1856-1864, September.
    11. Yunita, Sekar A.W. & Soraya, Emma & Maryudi, Ahmad, 2018. "“We are just cheerleaders”: Youth's views on their participation in international forest-related decision-making fora," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 88(C), pages 52-58.
    12. Gaoussou Diarra & Patrick Plane, 2014. "Assessing the World Bank's Influence on the Good Governance Paradigm," Oxford Development Studies, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 42(4), pages 473-487, December.
    13. World Bank, 2009. "Roots for Good Forest Outcomes : An Analytical Framework for Governance Reforms," World Bank Publications - Reports 3103, The World Bank Group.
    14. Tapan Kumar Nath & Makoto Inoue, 2008. "How does local governance affect project outcomes? Experience from a Participatory Forestry (PF) project in Bangladesh," International Journal of Agricultural Resources, Governance and Ecology, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 7(6), pages 491-506.
    15. Andersson, Krister, 2013. "Local Governance of Forests and the Role of External Organizations: Some Ties Matter More Than Others," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 43(C), pages 226-237.
    16. Mahbubul Alam & Yasushi Furukawa & Kazuhiro Harada, 2010. "Agroforestry as a sustainable landuse option in degraded tropical forests: a study from Bangladesh," Environment, Development and Sustainability: A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development, Springer, vol. 12(2), pages 147-158, April.
    17. Lund, Jens Friis & Saito-Jensen, Moeko, 2013. "Revisiting the Issue of Elite Capture of Participatory Initiatives," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 46(C), pages 104-112.
    18. Biermann, Frank & Gupta, Aarti, 2011. "Accountability and legitimacy: An analytical challenge for earth system governance," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 70(11), pages 1854-1855, September.
    19. Teye, Joseph Kofi, 2013. "Analysing forest resource governance in Africa: Proposition for an integrated policy network model," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 26(C), pages 63-70.
    20. Secco, Laura & Da Re, Riccardo & Pettenella, Davide Matteo & Gatto, Paola, 2014. "Why and how to measure forest governance at local level: A set of indicators," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 57-71.
    21. Górriz-Mifsud, Elena & Secco, Laura & Pisani, Elena, 2016. "Exploring the interlinkages between governance and social capital: A dynamic model for forestry," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 25-36.
    22. Arnouts, Rikke & van der Zouwen, Mariëlle & Arts, Bas, 2012. "Analysing governance modes and shifts — Governance arrangements in Dutch nature policy," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 16(C), pages 43-50.
    23. Nuggehalli, Roshni K. & Prokopy, Linda Stalker, 2009. "Motivating factors and facilitating conditions explaining women's participation in co-management of Sri Lankan forests," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 11(4), pages 288-293, July.
    24. Pettenella, Davide & Brotto, Lucio, 2012. "Governance features for successful REDD+ projects organization," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 18(C), pages 46-52.
    25. Cohen, John M. & Uphoff, Norman T., 1980. "Participation's place in rural development: Seeking clarity through specificity," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 8(3), pages 213-235, March.
    26. Rahman, Md Saifur & Sadath, Md. Nazmus & Giessen, Lukas, 2016. "Foreign donors driving policy change in recipient countries: Three decades of development aid towards community-based forest policy in Bangladesh," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 68(C), pages 39-53.
    27. Rana, Pushpendra & Chhatre, Ashwini, 2017. "Beyond committees: Hybrid forest governance for equity and sustainability," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 40-50.
    28. Shrestha, Sujata & Shrestha, Uttam Babu, 2017. "Beyond money: Does REDD+ payment enhance household's participation in forest governance and management in Nepal's community forests?," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 80(C), pages 63-70.
    29. Mutune, Jane Mutheu & Lund, Jens Friis, 2016. "Unpacking the impacts of ‘participatory’ forestry policies: Evidence from Kenya," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 69(C), pages 45-52.
    30. Lukas Giessen & Pradip Kumar Sarker & Md Saifur Rahman, 2016. "International and Domestic Sustainable Forest Management Policies: Distributive Effects on Power among State Agencies in Bangladesh," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-28, April.
    31. Rahman, Md Saifur & Miah, Sohag & Giessen, Lukas, 2018. "A new model of development coalition building: USAID achieving legitimate access and dominant information in Bangladesh’s forest policy," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 248-261.
    32. Lund, Jens Friis, 2015. "Paradoxes of participation: The logic of professionalization in participatory forestry," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 60(C), pages 1-6.
    33. Rahman, Md Saifur & Sarker, Pradip Kumar & Sadath, Md. Nazmus & Giessen, Lukas, 2018. "Policy changes resulting in power changes? Quantitative evidence from 25 years of forest policy development in Bangladesh," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 419-431.
    34. Gaoussou Diarra & Patrick Plane, 2014. "Assessing the World Bank’s Influence on the Good Governance Paradigm," Post-Print halshs-01413450, HAL.
    35. Edwards, Peter & Giessen, Lukas, 2014. "Global forest governance — Discussing legal scholarship from political science perspectives," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 38(C), pages 30-31.
    36. Holmes-Watts, Tania & Watts, Scotney, 2008. "Legal frameworks for and the practice of participatory natural resources management in South Africa," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 10(7-8), pages 435-443, October.
    37. Secco, Laura & Pettenella, Davide & Gatto, Paola, 2011. "Forestry governance and collective learning process in Italy: Likelihood or utopia?," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 13(2), pages 104-112.
    38. 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.
    39. Mohammed, Abrar J & Inoue, Makoto & Shivakoti, Ganesh, 2017. "Moving forward in collaborative forest management: Role of external actors for sustainable Forest socio-ecological systems," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 74(C), pages 13-19.
    40. Stojanovska, M. & Miovska, M. & Jovanovska, J. & Stojanovski, V., 2014. "The process of forest management plans preparation in the Republic of Macedonia: Does it comprise governance principles of participation, transparency and accountability?," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 51-56.
    41. Mi Sun Park & Hyowon Lee, 2016. "Legal Opportunities for Public Participation in Forest Management in the Republic of Korea," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 8(4), pages 1-13, April.
    42. Kangas, A. & Saarinen, N. & Saarikoski, H. & Leskinen, L.A. & Hujala, T. & Tikkanen, J., 2010. "Stakeholder perspectives about proper participation for Regional Forest Programmes in Finland," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 12(3), pages 213-222, March.
    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. Hasan, Md. Yeasir & Monir, Minhaj Uddin & Ahmed, Mohammad Tofayal & Aziz, Azrina Abd & Shovon, Shaik Muntasir & Ahamed Akash, Faysal & Hossain Khan, Mohammad Forrukh & Faruque, Md. Jamal & Islam Rifat, 2022. "Sustainable energy sources in Bangladesh: A review on present and future prospect," Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews, Elsevier, vol. 155(C).
    2. 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).
    3. Radmir Iksanov & Olga Khalikova & Igor Vladimirov & Ravil Gizzatullin & Regina Baiturina & Vitaliy Kovshov & Aigul Selezneva & Sofya Khasanova, 2021. "Forestry violations as a global issue of legal regulation in the field of forest control and supervision: the Krasnodar territory and the Republic of Bashkortostan case study," Journal of Forest Science, Czech Academy of Agricultural Sciences, vol. 67(6), pages 272-284.
    4. Nhem, Sareth & Lee, Young Jin, 2019. "Using Q methodology to investigate the views of local experts on the sustainability of community-based forestry in Oddar Meanchey province, Cambodia," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 106(C), pages 1-1.
    5. Fischer, Richard & Tamayo Cordero, Fabian & Ojeda Luna, Tatiana & Ferrer Velasco, Rubén & DeDecker, Maria & Torres, Bolier & Giessen, Lukas & Günter, Sven, 2021. "Interplay of governance elements and their effects on deforestation in tropical landscapes: Quantitative insights from Ecuador," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 148(C).
    6. Tapan Kumar Nath & Mohammed Jashimuddin & Makoto Inoue, 2020. "Achieving sustainable development goals through participatory forest management: Examples from South‐Eastern Bangladesh," Natural Resources Forum, Blackwell Publishing, vol. 44(4), pages 353-368, November.
    7. Ullah, S M Asik & Tani, Masakazu & Tsuchiya, Jun & Rahman, M.Abiar & Moriyama, Masao, 2022. "Impact of protected areas and co-management on forest cover: A case study from Teknaf Wildlife Sanctuary, Bangladesh," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 113(C).
    8. Magessa, Kajenje & Wynne-Jones, Sophie & Hockley, Neal, 2020. "Does Tanzanian participatory forest management policy achieve its governance objectives?," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(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. Park, Mi Sun & Lee, Hyowon, 2019. "Accountability and reciprocal interests of bilateral forest cooperation under the global forest regime," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 32-44.
    2. 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.
    3. Magessa, Kajenje & Wynne-Jones, Sophie & Hockley, Neal, 2020. "Does Tanzanian participatory forest management policy achieve its governance objectives?," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 111(C).
    4. Rahman, Md Saifur & Giessen, Lukas, 2017. "Formal and Informal Interests of Donors to Allocate Aid: Spending Patterns of USAID, GIZ, and EU Forest Development Policy in Bangladesh," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 94(C), pages 250-267.
    5. Islam, Kazi Nazrul & Rahman, Mohammad Mahfuzur & Jashimuddin, Mohammed & Hossain, Mohammad Mosharraf & Islam, Kamrul & Faroque, Mohiuddin Al, 2019. "Analyzing multi-temporal satellite imagery and stakeholders' perceptions to have an insight into how forest co-management is changing the protected area landscapes in Bangladesh," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 70-80.
    6. Klusáček, Petr & Alexandrescu, Filip & Osman, Robert & Malý, Jiří & Kunc, Josef & Dvořák, Petr & Frantál, Bohumil & Havlíček, Marek & Krejčí, Tomáš & Martinát, Stanislav & Skokanová, Hana & Trojan, Ja, 2018. "Good governance as a strategic choice in brownfield regeneration: Regional dynamics from the Czech Republic," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 73(C), pages 29-39.
    7. Singer, Benjamin & Giessen, Lukas, 2017. "Towards a donut regime? Domestic actors, climatization, and the hollowing-out of the international forests regime in the Anthropocene," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 79(C), pages 69-79.
    8. Kleinschmit, Daniela & Pülzl, Helga & Secco, Laura & Sergent, Arnaud & Wallin, Ida, 2018. "Orchestration in political processes: Involvement of experts, citizens, and participatory professionals in forest policy making," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 89(C), pages 4-15.
    9. Rahman, Md Saifur & Sarker, Pradip Kumar & Sadath, Md. Nazmus & Giessen, Lukas, 2018. "Policy changes resulting in power changes? Quantitative evidence from 25 years of forest policy development in Bangladesh," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 70(C), pages 419-431.
    10. Ba, Feng & Liu, Jinlong & Zhu, Ting & Liu, Yonggong & Zhao, Jiacheng, 2020. "CDM forest carbon sequestration projects in western China: An analysis using actor-centered power theory," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 115(C).
    11. Satyal, Poshendra, 2018. "Civil society participation in REDD+ and FLEGT processes: Case study analysis from Cameroon, Ghana, Liberia and the Republic of Congo," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 97(C), pages 83-96.
    12. Yami, M. & Mekuria, Wolde, 2022. "Challenges in the governance of community-managed forests in Ethiopia: review," Papers published in Journals (Open Access), International Water Management Institute, pages 1-14(3):147.
    13. Khan, Md Faisal Abedin & Uddin, Md Sazib & Giessen, Lukas, 2021. "Microcredit expansion and informal donor interests: Experiences from local NGOs in the Sundarbans Mangrove Forest, Bangladesh," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 21(C).
    14. Butler, Megan & Current, Dean, 2021. "Relationship between community capitals and governance: The perspective of local actors in the Maya Biosphere Reserve," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 21(C).
    15. García-López, Gustavo A., 2019. "Rethinking elite persistence in neoliberalism: Foresters and techno-bureaucratic logics in Mexico’s community forestry," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 120(C), pages 169-181.
    16. Rahman, Md Saifur & Miah, Sohag & Giessen, Lukas, 2018. "A new model of development coalition building: USAID achieving legitimate access and dominant information in Bangladesh’s forest policy," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 248-261.
    17. Koch, Susanne, 2017. "International influence on forest governance in Tanzania: Analysing the role of aid experts in the REDD+ process," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 83(C), pages 181-190.
    18. Hasnaoui, Ameni & Krott, Max, 2019. "Forest governance and the Arab spring: A case study of state forests in Tunisia," Forest Policy and Economics, Elsevier, vol. 105(C), pages 99-111.
    19. Duncan Weaver, 2018. "The Aarhus convention and process cosmopolitanism," International Environmental Agreements: Politics, Law and Economics, Springer, vol. 18(2), pages 199-213, April.
    20. Salla Eilola & Lalisa Duguma & Niina Käyhkö & Peter A. Minang, 2021. "Coalitions for Landscape Resilience: Institutional Dynamics behind Community-Based Rangeland Management System in North-Western Tanzania," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(19), pages 1-23, October.

    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:95:y:2018:i:c:p:123-137. 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.