Assessing the forested watershed management practices : the livelihood implications of indigenous knowledge in Shan State, Myanmar | |
| Author | Win Myint Thein |
| Call Number | AIT Thesis no.NR-21-07 |
| Subject(s) | Watershed management--Burma--Shan State Forest ecology--Burma--Shan State |
| Note | A thesis submitted in patial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science in Natural Resources Management, School of Environment, Resources and Development |
| Publisher | Asian Institute of Technology |
| Abstract | The study focused on management of forested watershed areas endowed with and without indigenous knowledge in the Southern Shan State of Myanmar. The objectives of the thesis are to explore the management practices with and without indigenous knowledge, the participation by the local people, livelihood changes, and the effects of indigenous knowledge on livelihood indicators. A social survey, key informant interviews, focus group discussions, and direct observations were conducted to collect both quantitative and qualitative data. Lwe Nyein village is the village with indigenous knowledge, and Ya Gyi village is the one without indigenous knowledge. Microsoft Excel, IBM-SPSS, R, and STATA 16 were applied in data analysis such as comparison between two different villages as well as two different times. Regression analysis was performed to assess the factors influencing income and participation. The propensity score matching technique was utilized to identify the effects of indigenous knowledge to correct for the selection bias arising from the cross-sectional data. Narrative analysis was employed with the qualitative data especially the management practices to derive insight from the grounds. The forested watershed managing practices were depicted in the paper according to the words of respondents. The three most important activities relating to indigenous knowledge were 'preventing forest fire', 'not cutting, planting the trees', and 'conserving the trees' based on indigenous practices. Lwe Nyein village had more general participation than Ya Gyi village since the indigenous knowledge made beliefs in the respondents toward management. In livelihood conditions assessment, social, financial, human and physical conditions were almost the high conditions in both villages, however, there were no significant improvement or decrement over five years. The exceptions were that Ya Gyi village underwent significant improvement in road quality and road network availability, and Lwe Nyein village had better trust and cooperation between the villagers. Therefore, indigenous knowledge could improve the social capital and participation in the study area. Both the management with and without indigenous knowledge had the positive impacts on conservation of nature while indigenous knowledge could provide strong social relation and better participations in the management in study area with indigenous practices. |
| Year | 2021 |
| Type | Thesis |
| School | School of Environment, Resources, and Development |
| Department | Department of Development and Sustainability (DDS) |
| Academic Program/FoS | Natural Resources Management (NRM) |
| Chairperson(s) | Tsusaka, Takuji W. |
| Examination Committee(s) | Sasaki, Nophea;Thi Phuoc Lai Nguyen |
| Scholarship Donor(s) | Kurita Water and Environment Foundation, Japan |
| Degree | Thesis (M. Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2021 |