To promote coexistence between the forest and the local communities, we must first understand what people gain from the forest, what disadvantages they suffer when forest use is restricted, and how to mitigate these disadvantages while providing alternative benefits that outweigh the losses.
To begin with, we conducted a survey of local livelihoods. We made contracts with 10 households in a neighboring village, asking them to record everything coming into and going out of their homes—ranging from firewood collected from the forest to tomatoes harvested from their fields—daily for an entire year.
Measuring firewoods
The results showed that most of their food and daily necessities came from their farms or local markets. Forest-derived resources were limited mostly to firewood, small amounts of craft materials, medicinal herbs, fruit, mushrooms, and small animals. It also became clear that most of their animal protein was supplied by milk and beef throughout the year. This indicated that what residents truly need is cash to purchase things they cannot produce themselves. Consequently, we concluded that ecotourism and research, which generate employment, are key strategies for forest conservation.
Records by villages
