Impact of Collaborative Forest Management on Rural Livelihood: A Case Study of Maple Sap Collecting Households in South Korea

Some forest-dependent rural communities participate in the Collaborative Forest Management (CFM) program in South Korea, which provides the local people with access to national forests for the collection of non-timber forest products (NTFPs) in return for their contribution to the management of national forests. This study investigated what factors influenced rural communities’ participation in CFM and how their participation in CFM affected livelihood strategies and income level. Households in 17 villages near the Seoul National University (SNU) forests owned by the Government were interviewed. The study found that CFM participating households tend to choose diversified livelihood strategies. CFM participating households with diversified livelihood strategies are likely to have a higher income than non-CFM participating households choosing sectoral focus strategies. Expansion of the CFM program is suggested as a policy option to improve forest-dependent rural livelihood. However, ageing and female-headed households are faced with difficulties in participating in CFM due to their physical ability of forestry work while new settlers restricted access to forest resources. There is a need for innovation in forest governance for equitable distribution of forest services for both original and new residents to achieve sustainable rural livelihoods.