In developing countries, participatory forest management (PFM) has emerged as a promising strategy for enhancing forest conservation and boosting rural livelihoods. This research investigates the impact of PFM on household living standards and changes in forest cover in the Sagi-Tagata State Forest, situated in the Alle District of southwestern Ethiopia. A mixed-methods approach was employed, incorporating household surveys (n = 284), focus group discussions, key informant interviews, and analysis of satellite imagery spanning from 2003 to 2023. Data were analyzed using SPSS Version 24 for descriptive statistics, Wilcoxon signed-rank tests to assess livelihood changes before and after PFM, and one-way ANOVA with LSD post hoc tests for income diversification. Binary logistic regression identified factors influencing PFM participation, including education, gender, age, landholding size, training, credit access, and proximity to forests and markets. Cloud-free Landsat images (2003, 2013, 2023) from USGS were used for land use/land cover analysis. The findings reveal that PFM has led to considerable enhancements in income diversification for households and improved access to forest resources. Despite a reduction in forest cover from 89% in 2003 to 62% in 2023, the pace of forest degradation notably slowed following the implementation of PFM. Logistic regression analysis identified education level, access to credit, landholding size, and proximity to forest resources as key factors influencing participation in PFM. These results emphasize that, when underpinned by suitable institutional and economic frameworks, PFM can effectively facilitate sustainable forest management and rural development.
Ararsa et al. (Thu,) studied this question.
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