‘Economic Stakeholder Analysis’ for Participatory Forest Management

Fo re st ry B rie fin g N um be r 4, M ay 2 00 3 Introduction A major reason for the high failure rate of rural development forestry projects is the weak economic incentives for local forest users and other stakeholders to participate in sustainable forest management (SFM). In view of the high dependency of the rural poor on forests for their livelihoods, this has serious poverty implications. A key challenge for governments and donors is to design project interventions and policies which improve these incentives. However progress is constrained by poor understanding of decision-making criteria and incentives, especially the costs and benefits of alternative livelihood and land use options. Economics can provide more information on winners and losers, and help identify the interventions and policies needed to convert losers into winners. But much economic guidance involves sophisticated methods beyond locally available budgets and skills, and rarely adopts the perspective of local forest users. There is relatively little guidance for using economics in more livelihood-oriented and multiple-purpose forestry situations. At the same time, there is ‘Economic Stakeholder Analysis’ for Participatory Forest Management