Welfare and forest cover impacts of incentive based conservation: Evidence from Kenyan community forest associations

Submitted by Jane Nyawira Maina on
EfD Authors:

This paper examines whether offering landless forest-adjacent communities options to grow appropriate food crops inside forest reserves during early stages of reforestation programmes increases incomes of low-income households and conserve forests. We consider the forest cover and household welfare impacts of a unique incentive scheme in Kenya known as the Plantation Establishment and Livelihood Improvement Scheme (PELIS). PELIS seeks to deepen community participation in forestry, and improve the livelihoods of adjacent communities.

Conservation, Forestry

Saving Africa's tropical forests through energy transition - a randomized controlled trial in Tanzania

Submitted by Petra Hansson on

Abstract

The production of charcoal to meet cooking needs of urban households is one of the main causes of deforestation and degradation of Africa’s tropical forests, which offer significant carbon sequestration capacity to the global economy.

In collaboration with a reputable local micro-finance institution, we designed a randomized controlled trial in urban Tanzania and offered LPG stoves through subsidy and on credit to measure their impact on charcoal consumption and the corresponding reduction in deforestation.

Climate Change, Forestry, Health, Policy Design

Valuing water purification services of forests in China's Sichuan province

Submitted by Petra Hansson on
EfD Authors:

It is widely believed that forests help improve water quality by reducing soil erosion (and hence reducing silt) as well as filtering out nutrients and pollutants carried in water, which allows the municipal drinking water supply sector to simplify or expedite many costly water treatment procedures and thereby save on operating costs. This study statistically quantifies such cost savings in the contexts of China’s Sichuan province, by analyzing how drinking water treatment costs change in response to changes in upstream forest cover.

Forestry, Policy Design, Water

Local control and collective action in forest management: The case of China

Submitted by Petra Hansson on
EfD Authors:

To encourage sustainable use of forests, in 2003 China allowed rural villages to choose among a range of options to manage forests, including individual user rights with joint management. We studied how this individual user rights-based joint management affected forests and households.

Both property rights and voluntary decisions encourage cooperation. This resulted in better forest conservation in these villages in China, with about 10% more forest cover. This is also important because forests store carbon.

Air Quality, Climate Change, Forestry

Valuing Water Purification Services of Forests: A Production Function Approach using Panel Data from China’s Sichuan Province 20-29

Submitted by Petra Hansson on
EfD Authors:

The water purification functions of forests represent one of the most frequently invoked examples of non-market ecosystem services that are economically valuable. Yet, there has been a paucity of statistical estimates that robustly quantify such benefits. This study enriches this thin evidence base through valuing forests’ water purification services in the form of the ensuing cost savings of municipal drinking water treatment, using a rich panel dataset from China’s Sichuan province.

Forestry, Water

Does mangrove plantation reduce coastal erosion? Assessment from the west coast of India

Submitted by Vidisha Chowdhury on
EfD Authors:

Mangroves are believed to stabilize the coastlines by controlling erosion and facilitating sediment deposition. Coastal managers often plant mangroves to counter coastal erosion. The state of Gujarat in West India has planted thousands of hectares of mangroves over the years, and control of coastal erosion has been one of the prime reasons of plantation. This study performed a statistical assessment of the effect of the planted mangroves on the coastline changes in the state from 1990 to 2013.

Biodiversity, Forestry