Journal of Forest Economics > Vol 11 > Issue 4

Social and cultural determinants of collective management of community forest in Nepal

Vishakha Maskey, Tesfa G. Gebremedhin, tgebrem@wvu.edu , Timothy J. Dalton
 
Suggested Citation
Vishakha Maskey, Tesfa G. Gebremedhin and Timothy J. Dalton (2006), "Social and cultural determinants of collective management of community forest in Nepal", Journal of Forest Economics: Vol. 11: No. 4, pp 261-274. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jfe.2005.10.004

Publication Date: 12 Jan 2006
© 0 2006 Vishakha Maskey, Tesfa G. Gebremedhin, Timothy J. Dalton
 
Subjects
 
Keywords
JEL Codes:Q 230
Community forestryCommon propertyUser groupCaste systemSocio-economic statusLevel of participation
 

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In this article:
Introduction 
Literature review 
Background 
Methodology 
Empirical results and analysis 
Conclusions 
Implications for future research 

Abstract

The main goal of the study is to determine which socio-economic factors affect level of participation in the community forest management of “Ludhi-Damgade” of Gorkha district in Nepal. The empirical evidence for level of participation as a function of social status is obtained by using an ordered probit and two-stage least-squares model. The model also estimates the marginal effects of socio-economic factors on different levels of participation suggesting how per unit change in such socio-economic characters affects the level of participation. Empirical results from the model also verify that participation in forest management determines the quantity and type of benefits received from the community forest. The research findings of the study suggest that participation in community forest management is based on the socio-economic profile of an individual and the level of participation is determined by the benefits obtained from the common forest resources. Lack of participation in community forest management excludes the disadvantaged groups from decision-making in product distribution. Consequently, the disadvantaged groups get less benefit from the community forest. The empirical results are expected to aid policy makers in empowering people of lower socio-economic status to understand the importance of participation in community forest management in order to have equal distribution of benefits accrued by community forest.

DOI:10.1016/j.jfe.2005.10.004