Zones of Influence: Forest Resource Use, Proximity, and Livelihoods in the Kijabe Forest

forests;zone of influence;agency;livelihoods;School for Environment and Sustainability

Kinzer, AndrewIbanez, Ines ;

University of Michigan

关键词: forests;    zone of influence;    agency;    livelihoods;    School for Environment and Sustainability;   

Others  :  https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/145172/Kinzer_Andrew_Thesis.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

瑞士|英语

来源: The Illinois Digital Environment for Access to Learning and Scholarship

【 摘 要 】

The factors influencing forest dependence have been examined extensively using both spatialand social variables. While these studies have created valuable insights about forest dependence,a more complex picture that considers the physical distribution of both the resources beingdepended on and the households depending on them, as well as the social characteristics ofthose households is needed. This allows us to treat the forest as an agent that is capable ofexerting influence over households that changes based on spatial and social factors. This studyexamined the zones of influence of a 5,500 hectare Afromontane highland forest in centralKenya. It examined the zones of influence of charcoal, firewood, and all the used forest productscombined, on the households in the communities around the forest. Furthermore, it examinedif that influence changed as a function of distance, household economic characteristics, andhousehold demographic characteristics. The results show that when spatial and social variablesare considered together, the zones of influence of each of the forest resources changed, bothin which social variables were significant, as well as the magnitude of their significance.Households living close to the forest were not inherently more likely to use any of the forestresources examined, but rather the predicted probabilities changed based on a household’sdistance from certain forest types, as well as a household’s unique economic and demographiccharacteristics. This highlights the importance of recognizing that forests exist as agents incomplex social-ecological systems, and that understanding the relational dynamics betweenthem and the coommunities living around them is the only way we can hope to manage forestresources to meet the difficult goals of conserving biodiversity, restoring degraded landscapes,and meeting the livelihood needs of people.