The interaction of Community Forestry with rural livelihoods in Myanmar: Challenges and opportunities

Abstract

Since the late 1970s, many countries have taken up Community Forestry (CF) within the rubric of decentralisation and devolved forest management. In Myanmar, CF was adopted in 1995, in response to the rapid depletion of natural forests. Over the 20 years of CF in Myanmar, however, the experiences and impacts of CF on rural livelihoods across Myanmar have not been fully examined. This thesis investigated the interaction of CF with livelihoods in three different ecological zones in Myanmar: the Delta region, the Dry Zone and the Hilly region. Drawing on one year of fieldwork, that combined qualitative and quantitative analyses, I show that, although rural livelihoods are changing, forest resources still play an important role for many rural households in Myanmar. In relation to the interplay of forest resources and rural livelihoods, this research reveals that community forests have sometimes contributed significantly to local livelihood portfolios. Over the three research sites, communities in the Delta Zone who were participating in CF received financial benefit from the sale of fuelwood and some NTFPs. However, these benefits were inequitably distributed because not all households could become CFUG members. The intervention therefore may not be socially sustainable in the long run. The CFUG members in the Dry Zone and the Hilly Zone also gained benefits from their community forests for household use and they expected to gain valuable timber for building materials in the future. However, financial benefits were limited in these areas. Therefore, CF provided for rural communities in different ways and to different extents. Based on the three cases, the thesis argues that CF in Myanmar contributes forest products to local livelihoods and has also strengthened access to and control over forest resources. Among the three cases, the case study in the Delta Zone showed the most substantial impacts on forest cover and household livelihoods. However, the case study also found elite capture of benefits because forest land allocation was made to individual households and excluded the poorest households. The thesis also shows that current livelihood patterns are changing and diversifying, based on the available opportunities at each locality. Within these trends, this thesis reveals that farming is still important and agricultural lands are important role to many household economies. At the same time, forest lands and/or community forest lands, while still important, are becoming less central to livelihoods of rural communities (see below). Yet the landless poor and non-CFUG members rely strongly on CF areas to improve their livelihoods, as it enables access to daily needs and land. However, they are ultimately constrained in how the lands can be used. Moreover, the growth of migration and off-farm income is changing the significance of and interest in CF. This will likely become more prominent in the future and could undermine the viability of CF in some localities. Presenting key arguments drawn from the case of Myanmar, this thesis reveals that the impacts of CF are spatially and socially differentiated. While CF provides a platform for people to participate in forest governance, its full potential in supporting rural livelihoods has yet to be realised.