Does Customary Land Tenure System Encourage Local Forestry Management in Zambia? A Focus on Wood Fuel

With over two-thirds of the country's total forest area on customary land, customary land authorities have a substantial influence on forest management. However, there appears to be an under-appreciation of the role of customary land institutions in wood fuel production and forest management in general. Wood fuel production is a major contributor to deforestation and forest degradation in Zambia, with an estimated 250,000-300,000 hectares of forest loss per annum. The drivers of wood fuel production are mostly associated with poverty, unemployment, ineffective local forestry management institutions, and rising demand for wood fuel. Local forestry management institutions provide guidelines on the use and management of local forests, but these institutions are often informal, without documentation or enforcement structures. Household level demographics, specifically age, education, and sex of the head, are important factors affecting household participation in wood fuel production and/or marketing. Households with relatively older heads are less likely to participate in wood fuel production and/or marketing, while male-headed households are more likely to participate than their female-headed counterparts. Poverty influences households to participate in wood fuel business, and an improvement in household wealth status and asset base reduces the likelihood of participation. Unemployment is an important driver of wood fuel participation by households in rural areas, with the lack of employment opportunities compelling more youth, even the educated, to engage in wood fuel business as an alternative livelihood strategy. Informal and ineffective local forestry management institutions are unable to internalize the costs of forest depletion, and these institutions are characterized by weak or non-existent enforcement structures. A comparative assessment of stakeholder views drawn from focus group discussions, key informant, and in-depth interviews was conducted to deepen understanding of the existing local forestry management institutions and local community members' perception about forest outcomes. Results indicate the existence of forestry management rules at the local level, but these rules are informal, without documentation or laid down sanctions/penalties for rule-breakers. To the extent that rules of use exist, they are rarely enforced due to a lack of enforcement structures. In some areas, such as Pondani, Luembe, and Zubalinyenga in Nyimba district, local community members perceive a positive change in forest conditions over the last 20 years. This perceived change is mainly in terms of forest regeneration, and not necessarily forest cover. The Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) has been providing forestry management extension services and helping with formalizing and amending the existing rules in these areas, which has led to improved compliance with some of the existing rules and sustainable forestry management practices. The Revised National Forestry Policy of 2014 and the Forestry Bill of 2015 need to prioritize formalization and strengthening of local forestry management institutions in customary areas. Legislation should also be explicit on the roles and entitlements of local communities that guarantee local ownership of community forests. Rural development strategies need to ramp up efforts aimed at creating alternative rural employment (livelihood strategies) in order to shift labor away from wood fuel production.