User attitudes to conservation and management options for the Ongoye Forest Reserve, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.
Loading...
Date
2005
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
Indigenous forest resources are valuable to communities situated around them as they
provide many different resources for their livelihoods. South Africa has only 0.5% of
indigenous forest cover and most forests are surrounded by local communities who
depend on them for resources. At Ongoye the forest was widely (91% of households)
used for fuelwood. Community members denied harvesting the forest for either building
or fencing poles, claiming they bought Eucalyptus poles from suppliers in the
community. However, the harvesting intensities of pole size stems confirm that the user
community does harvest timber from the forest. There is a high demand for fuelwood and
pole-size stems are harvested not only for building but are cut and left to dry for later use
as fuelwood. Although the harvesting intensity was greater than users were prepared to
admit to, harvesting levels are thought to be sustainable. Local communities did not trade
in products extracted from the forest. The use of resources was only for subsistence
purposes, and therefore, forest resources were only valuable to users with respect to
providing support to local livelihoods.
Ensuring the protection and conservation of forest resources is critical for the survival of
the user communities that are dependent upon them. Most local communities are not
knowledgeable about managing forest resources adjacent to them, and the management of
forest resources at Ongoye is currently in the hands of the state and also the influence of
the Inkosi (local tribal chief). As part of the process of democratization post 1994, the
government is devolving the management of natural resources to local communities.
Several models of management institutions have been proposed and tested including
community forest management (CFM), state forest management (SFM), and participatory
forest management (PFM). Current trends are towards participatory management
institutions. Using questionnaires, I determined that users preferred PFM over both SFM
and CFM. However, the local community was in favour of more state involvement in the
PFM than expected. Given a choice between CFM and SFM, the user community was
more favourably disposed toward SFM. This was because they viewed CFM as
vulnerable to resulting in open access to resources without any control.
The devolution of powers to local communities can create problems in local governance.
For most areas surrounding forest resources, traditional authorities are the important
'governing' leaders. In South Africa, events post 1994 have created tensions between
democratically elected and hereditary governance institutions. On the one hand
democratic institutions are supposed to be created at the local level, and on the other the
constitution recognizes the existence of hereditary institutions. There is a power struggle
over who the legitimate authority at the local level is between democratically elected
councilors and chiefs. At Ongoye, the local chief was very powerful and had strong views
on the ownership and control of Ongoye. He had a positive influence on maintaining
current low to moderate levels of use of forest resources. However, because there are
several dangers associated with concentrating power over management of natural
resources in one individual, I recommend that a participatory natural resources
management institution be developed that acknowledges the important role of the Inkosi,
but also tempers his influence, so that continuity of management principles is maintained
should traditional leadership changes hands.
Description
Thesis (M.Sc.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2005.
Keywords
Forest conservation--KwaZulu-Natal--Ongoye Forest Reserve., Forest management--KwaZulu-Natal--Ongoye Forest Reserve., Forest management--KwaZulu-Natal--Citizen participation., Community forestry--KwaZulu-Natal--Ongoye Forest Reserve., Natural resources--Management., Ongoye Forest Reserve (KwaZulu-Natal)--Management., Theses--Botany.