Forest resource use and perception of farmers on conservation of a usufruct forest (Soppinabetta) of Western Ghats, India

• Published in: Land use policy Vol. 29; no. 3; pp. 702 - 709
• Main Authors: Sinu, Palatty Allesh, Kent, Sean M., Chandrashekara, Kruthik
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Elsevier Ltd 01.07.2012
• Subjects: Agriculture; anthropogenic activities; Areca catechu; betel nut; Community-managed forest; composts; Conservation; Conservation of resources; Developing countries; Environmental degradation; Environmental policy; Farmers; Food; food grains; forest resources; Forestry; harvesting; Households; Income; India; land policy; Land use change; Land utilization; leaves; livestock; Natural resource management; Oryza sativa; ownership; paddies; plant litter; plantations; rice; Socioeconomic status; Surveys; Sustainability; tropical forests; Western Ghats; Wildlife; wildlife habitats; India; Natural resource management; Community-managed forest; Land use change; Sustainability; Western Ghats; Agriculture; India
• ISSN: 0264-8377; 1873-5754
• DOI: 10.1016/j.landusepol.2011.11.006

[Display omitted] ► Soppinabetta forests are farmer-managed wet evergreen forests of Sringeri in the Western Ghats. ► These forests are allotted proportionately to the betel nut plantation area of a farmer. ► Farmers collect leaf litter and green foliages from these forests to manure agricultural lands. ► Recent land use policy alienates the local control of farmers over Soppinabetta forests. ► This policy leads to unsustainable harvest of resources by landless poor peoples, competition for forest resources and degradation of the forest. ► Inclusive local-level and farmer driven protection system is required to preserve Soppinabetta forests. The negative impact of anthropogenic activity on tropical forests is well documented, but the underlying factors, including socioeconomic conditions, government policy, and agricultural practices, that influence forest degradation in developing countries are poorly understood. For centuries, Soppinabetta forests (SBFs) in the Western Ghats of India have provided essential habitat for wildlife and vital organic resources (leaf litter, green foliage) for the cultivation of betel nut palms ( Areca catechu) and rice paddy ( Oryza sativa). Historically, betel nut farmers carefully managed resource extraction in SBFs, but recent changes in land use policy allow for unmitigated resource extraction by site dwellers, which may imperil the traditional sustainable management of SBFs. Site dwellers live on government allotted sites and primarily derive their income through the sale of forest-based products. We used SBFs as a model system to investigate the factors governing: (i) forest resource extraction, (ii) the effect of changing agricultural practices on the rate of resource extraction, and (iii) farmers’ perception of SBFs conservation in response to changes in governmental land use policy. Results from surveys of 90 households (57 farmers and 33 site-dwellers) and the forest department indicate individual farmers collected an average of 31.09 (range 0–125) metric tons of leaf litter and 19.11 metric tons (range 0–120) of green foliage per year. Organic resource harvesting by farmers was positively correlated with the size of betel nut plantations, size of SBFs, and number of livestock owned per household. Betel nut plantations require six times more compost than food grains cultivated in field paddies. In past one decade, 33% of field paddies have been converted into betel nut plantations, increasing the strain on SBFs for forest resources. Farmers believe that when they lose provisional ownership of SBFs, site dwellers unsustainably harvest resources and severely damage SBFs. We suggest that an inclusive, local-level, farmer-driven protection be implemented to preserve the SBF heritage system of Western Ghats.