GMS Forestry

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Project Implementation

• Community Forestry
• Industrial Forestry
• Trade
• Gender/Ethnic Minority Studies

The community forestry component consists of a series of field studies in Cambodia, Lao PDR, and Viet Nam supervised by William Sunderlin of CIFOR. The purpose of the field studies are to review the effectiveness of "introduced" (as contrasted with "traditional") community forestry projects in improving the livelihoods of participants. The study looks at quantitative measures of wellbeing status, but also relies heavily on assessments by the project participants themselves to discern if community forestry has been successful in reducing poverty, and if so, how this success was achieved.

The field studies are being carried out in two phases:

1. in each of the project countries, enumerators are conducting surveys at four community forestry sites at the household and village level. This intensive phase involves gathering in-depth information at relatively few sites;
2. in each of the three countries, enumerators are conducting village meetings at 20-40 community forestry sites to assess the performance of community forestry in improving livelihoods and to investigate whether the findings from the four intensive sites are representative of the general situation. This is the extensive phase of the community forestry study.

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The industrial forestry component, supervised by Adrian Whiteman of FAO, consists of a series of case studies in the project countries. Currently, five case studies are being implemented: three in Cambodia, two in Lao PDR, and one in Viet Nam.

1. Livelihoods and forest areas in Cambodia - this case study examines the contribution of forest-based activities to local livelihoods - before and after forest harvesting - and the potential to improve local livelihoods through small-scale forest-based development.
   • The study examines the sources of income from various forest and non-forest based activities across different levels of income and in harvested and unharvested forests.
   • The study also examines the potential for local forest-based development to create income and employment and reduce poverty.

   Key Outputs:

   • What are the costs and benefits of forest management at different case-study locations?
   • What is the average contribution of forest-based activities to local livelihoods (in terms of income) in each village and across different levels of wealth? What are the general trends?
   • How can income from forest based activities (harvesting, processing of wood, and non-timber forest products) be maximized?


2. Pro-poor forest concession policies in Cambodia - this case study assesses past experiences of local communities in forest concessions and examines the potential for building and improving relationships between concessionaires and local communities.

   Key Outputs:

   • In former forest concession areas, what were the proposed measures for community protection, support and development?
   • In possible future concession areas, what are the main concerns of local people about forest harvesting activities? What are the positive impacts of forest harvesting on livelihoods and what measures can be taken to enhance these?
   • What improved forest concession practices can result in improved community-concessionaire relationships?


3. Non-Timber Forest Product (NTFP) Development in Cambodia - the objective of this study is to examine the contribution of selected NTFPs to poverty alleviation and the potential to increase that contribution through improved production, marketing, and trade practices. The case study comprises two main components.
   • One component examines the trends and current status of markets for selected NTFPs, with a view to examining the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to market development (SWOT analysis) and produce a market outlook.
   • The second component examines the production and marketing chain and the contribution of net income earned - at each stage in the chain - to the livelihoods of people involved.

   Key Outputs:

   • What is the estimate market size for NTFPs in terms of production costs and prices?
   • Where can those involved with NTFPs sell their products? What contribution can NTFPs make to their income?


4. Forest-based ecotourism in Lao PDR - this case study examines the current contribution of forest-based ecotourism to poverty alleviation and the potential to increase that contribution through improved service provision, marketing, and development of complementary activities. The case study comprises two main components.
   • One component examines the trends and current status of the market for forest-based ecotourism with respect to strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats to market development. This SWOT analysis will be used to produce a market outlook.
   • The second component examines the distribution of net income from ecotourism activities and the contribution of this income to the livelihoods of those involved.

   Key Outputs:

   • What is the contribution of forest-based ecotourism (in terms of income) to livelihoods involved?
   • What activities and marketing strategies can enhance income from forest based activities?


5. Assessment and Marketing of Plantation Wood in Lao PDR - This case study comprises three main components and will be focusing on areas with high densities of borrowers who participated in the ADB Industrial Tree Plantation Project (ITTP).
   • The first component examines existing information on felling and transport charges from official sources and private sector informants.
   • The second component conducts a practical assessment of costs associated with felling and transporting logs, including official and unofficial fees and charges, and to collect empirical information from tree growers, wood buyers and government officials on the strengths and weaknesses of the current system.
   • The third component analyzes information to assess the contribution of tree growing to tree growers themselves, wood transporters and also to government funds.

   Key Outputs:

   • How much the ADB ITPP produced in terms of volume and dollars?
   • What is the total cost associated with plantation grown wood from harvesting to the drop off point?
   • Where can farmers sell plantation wood and for how much? What will be the impact on their incomes?


6. Local income and employment in State Forest Enterprises (SFEs) in Viet Nam - this case study comprises three components.
   • The first component assesses the overall structure of employment in four SFEs, in terms of employment numbers in various wage categories and across a broad mix of social strata.
   • The second component interviews employees and other local people not employed by the enterprises, to assess their socio-economic background and to compare and contrast the contribution of SFE employment to total household income.
   • The third component presents and discusses these results with the managers of the SFEs and also discusses the possibilities for improving livelihoods with local people.

   Key Outputs:

   • How many people are employed in SFEs?
   • What are the incomes/well-being status of SFE employees compared to those not employed by SFEs?

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This component of the project assesses the effects of the forest product trade (both wood and non-timber forest products) on rural livelihoods through an analysis of regional, national, and local secondary data and interviews. Interviews will encompass people in the marketing chain - from producers to consumers - management agencies, and institutions and individuals knowledgeable about legal and illegal trade.

The impacts of changes in the composition and structure of the forest industry and new forestry investments on the poverty reduction potential of forestry are also assessed. An overview of the public sector investments in the three case study countries will also be undertaken.

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One of the main objectives of this project is to focus on areas where forest-related activities can potentially improve livelihoods, increase rural incomes and reduce the vulnerability of forest-dependent communities.

A large percentage of forest-dependent communities are ethnic minorities and women. As a result, the RETA takes a close look at gender and ethnic minority issues in the region and whether the interests of women and ethnic minorities have been adequately taken into account in the planning and implementation of past community forestry projects.

The main focus of both the gender and ethnic minority studies are the Central Highlands in Viet Nam where four different sites are to be surveyed. This allows the project to closely study a region with a high incidence of poverty and a high concentration of ethnic minorities.