Are indicators useful for measuring and supporting the sustainability of forest use? A Zambian case study

Widespread dependence of rural communities on forest products is recognised, however, existing data on forest product use are limited and may not reflect current trends, as dependence patterns change over time. In the context of rapid deforestation, high levels of poverty, and associated reliance on natural resources such as forest products to support livelihoods, it is important to understand the current role of forests for supporting livelihoods so that these can be incorporated into policy and forest management efforts. Effective policies should go a step further and consider attitudes and behaviours of forest product users and attempt to understand linkages between behaviour and forest use. Being able to measure the sustainability of forest use (i.e. the impact of behaviours on the provisioning forest ecosystem) by using a composite indicator approach, is useful if we are to understand the potential impact of changes in behaviour or use patterns and if we hope to make changes that will result in more sustainable use. Here, we assess forest dependence using household interview data collected from 574 households in rural North-Western Zambia. Forest use data were recorded, which we used to inform the development of a forest use sustainability indicator, as were attitudes to forests and forest management, in an area where livelihoods depend on forest resources, with the backdrop of rapid national population growth and deforestation rates. While forest dependence among households was high (97% of households used forest products) and attitudes were generally pro-forest conservation, actual forest use (behaviour) showed signs of being unsustainable, based on the sustainability indicator used to measure forest use sustainability. By using an indicator approach to measure the sustainability of forest use at a household level, we were able to calculate projections of future sustainability based on theoretical future changes in harvesting practices. Local level quantifications of sustainability using standardised tools such as composite indicators could contribute to greater transparency in the process of analysing factors affecting sustainability and the development of appropriate, inclusive, and situation-specific policy to address the sustainability of forest use.