| Author | Kyaw Oo |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.NR-06-07 |
| Subject(s) | Community forests|zMyanmar|zShan State
|
| Note | A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science, School of Environment, Resources and Development |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Series Statement | Thesis ; no. NR-06-07 |
| Abstract | Forest plays a critical role in nation economic development of Myanmar, which is very important for supporting the livelihood of the rural population's daily basic needs. After realizing that forest degradation is a major serious issue and forest conservation and development efforts for developing the country's economy and balancing environment in a sustainable manner cannot be achieved without the involvement of local communities' skill, traditional knowledge, ethical value and closed cooperation in each process of planning, implementing, monitoring and evaluating of any development and conservation programs, Myanmar Forest Department issued community forestry instructions in 1995. In this regards, Forest Department initiated community forestry programs across the country by itself and in collaboration with some of the international organizations or NGOs for better forest conservation and fulfilling the basic forest products needs of the local communities. The study investigates the impacts of community forest establishment in Nyaungshwe Township, southern Shan State. According to the analysis of primary and secondary data, this research looks into the impact of CF program such as changes in the forest resources and socioeconomic status and perception and participation of Community Forest User Group members' in Community Forest concept and management. To do this effort, each of 34 respondents were selected among the members of Community Forest User Group members and non-members of CFUG for obtaining the required primary data concerning CF which were analyzed through simple forest inventory, Household survey, field observation, key informants' interview and group discussion. Forest impact analysis indicated that generally, forest condition in CF is similar to that of Government Protected Forest in terms of the number of trees species. CF provided only some fuel wood for their household consumption according to the findings of this research and they did not get any income from CF after handover to them and their socioeconomic condition is poor. Generally, socioeconomic condition of both members and non-members of CFUG are in the same status of poor and CFUG is not properly maintaining their CF according to their CF management plan at this time due to a lot of constraints and limitations. The overall result of this study indicated that condition of forest resources in CF is not significantly changed and similar to that of government protected forest. Socioeconomic status of local CFUG members and non-members is nearly in the same level especially in terms of annual income and expenditure and also poor and members' perception in CF is still under the limited knowledge and participation is also poor in CF activities which may lead to fail the expected objectives of fulfilling the basic needs of local community and regaining the environmental stability of Myanmar |
| Year | 2006 |
| Corresponding Series Added Entry | Asian Institute of Technology. Thesis ; no. NR-06-07 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development (SERD) |
| Department | Department of Development and Sustainability (DDS) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Natural Resources Management (NRM) |
| Chairperson(s) | Shivakoti, Ganesh P.; |
| Examination Committee(s) | Gautam, Ambika P.;Dietrich Schmidt-Vogt; |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Asian Institute of Technology (24 Credits) Cetana Educational Foundation, USA; |
| Degree | Thesis (M. Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2006 |