- Carsten Schusser, Max Krott, Mbolo C Yufanyi Movuh, Jacqueline Logmani, Rosan R Devkota, Ahmad Maryudi, Manjola Salla, Ngo Duy Bach. 2015. Powerful stakeholders as drivers of community forestry—Results of an international study. Forest Policy and Economics 58: 92-101. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forpol.2015.05.011
Abstract
Community forestry is a complex collective action by forest users that takes place within a broader network of multiple actors at local, national and international levels. This paper looks at all relevant actors and tests the hypothesis of whether they have a significant influence on the outcomes of community forestry. The empirical basis comprises 57 cases of community forestry in four developing and one developed country. The cases were selected to represent a variety of political conditions and best practices, defined as success in the achievement of high outcomes. The actors were theoretically defined, and we identified political, economic and societal actors. Additionally, their power and interests were theoretically defined and observed in the field studies. The group of powerful actors desires specific outcomes for the local users of the community forests. As far as the ecological outcomes, some 40% of the powerful actors prefer sustained forest stands, and 20% also find biodiversity to be important. With regard to the economic contribution to the local users, 25% of powerful actors support only a subsistence level for the local users, and 25% prefer higher economic contributions. Within the social outcomes, 40% of powerful actors accept devolution of some information and decision rights to the local users, but only 2% would grant them full empowerment. The interests of the powerful actors were compared with the outcomes achieved in practice. A comparison shows that within each outcome there is a congruence of 82–90% between the interests of powerful actors and the outcomes for local users. We interpret these findings as empirical evidence that powerful actors have a significant influence on the outcomes of community forestry for the local users.
- Ahmad Maryudi, Ani A Nawir, Dwiko B Permadi, Ris H Purwanto, Dian Pratiwi, Ahmad Syofi’i, Purnomo Sumardamto. 2015. 2015. Complex regulatory frameworks governing private smallholder tree plantations in Gunungkidul District, Indonesia. Forest Policy and Economics 59: 1-6. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.forpol.2015.05.010 .
Abstract
Smallholder tree plantation, now on the increase in Indonesia, has long been practiced by rural farmers as a strategy to optimize the expected utility of land, labor and other constraints. Increasing demand for timber has driven a shift toward commercialization of smallholder forestry. However, smallholders face huge challenges when they seek for commercial markets in the form of complex regulatory frameworks applied to smallholder plantations. This paper discusses the case of smallholder plantations in Gunungkidul District (Indonesia), considered one of the most commercialized timber marketing hubs for local, national and international markets. It analyzes how opportunities and challenges, resulted from different regulatory frameworks, affect the competitiveness of smallholder forestry practices. In this paper, regulatory frameworks are defined as not only regulations issued by public administrators at the domestic (local and national) level, but also cover the emerging market-based regulatory frameworks, i.e. voluntary certification of sustainable forestry and mandatory timber legality verification.
- Maryudi. 2015. The political economy of forest land-use, the timber sector, and forest certification. The Context of Natural Forest Management and FSC Certification in Indonesia: 9-34.