Browsing by Author "Mawa, Christopher"

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    Are community forests delivering livelihood benefits? Insights from Uganda
    (Forests, Trees and Livelihoods, 2021) Mawa, Christopher; Mwesigye Tumusiime, David; Babweteera, Fred
    Most developing countries in the tropics have embraced various forms of community-based forest management. Uganda’s Community Forestry (CF) approach grants de jure rights to community groups to manage and own proceeds from specified forest resources to enhance socio-ecological benefits. However, two decades following its implementation, there is insufficient empirical evidence linking changes in local community livelihoods to participation in CF. Guided by insights from the Sustainable Livelihoods Approach (SLA), we conducted a cross-sectional survey in seven villages surrounding two de facto CFs in mid-western Uganda to quantify and compare livelihood capitals, strategies and outcomes among 40 households that were members of Communal Land Associations (CLAs) that are mandated to manage the CFs and 91 non-member households. Our results indicate significant improvements in access to natural, social and financial capitals of CLA member households. On-farm income was the main household income source in the area, but households also exhibited heavy dependence on forest environmental income observed to reduce poverty incidence by 12.5% and 5.5% among CLA member and non-member households, respectively. In order to significantly contribute to rural livelihoods, conservation and development interventions should amplify both economic and non-economic incentives to consolidate the gains that have been made while developing human and physical capital.
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    Conservation Outcomes of Collaborative Forest Management in a Medium Altitude Semideciduous Forest in Mid-western Uganda
    (Journal of Sustainable Forestry, 2020) Mawa, Christopher; Babweteera, Fred; Mwesigye Tumusiime, David
    Globally, community involvement in forest management has been hailed as an effective strategy to achieve both conservation and livelihoods improvement goals. In Uganda, Collaborative Forest Management (CFM) has been promoted to enable registered local community groups to co-manage specified areas of state forests with state agencies. However, there is paucity of empirical research evidence on conservation outcomes that are attributable to CFM. To fill this gap, this study used forest inventory data collected in compartments under different forest management regimes (CFM, inactive- CFM, and non-CFM) in 2003 and 2016 to assess spatial and temporal changes in forest structural attributes in a semideciduous forest in mid-western Uganda. Our ordination results show significant changes in tree communities in the non-CFM compartment. The CFM compartment registered a net increase in basal area. We attribute these changes to the high rate of illegal timber extraction and charcoal processing, with signs of the latter only recorded in the inactive- and non-CFM compartments. Illegal timber extraction was perpetuated by powerful outsiders while charcoal processing was dominated by local area residents for cash income. Deliberate management interventions should be instituted to curb illegal human activities and enhance regeneration and recruitment of target tree species in the forest.