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Economic implications of declaration of Knuckles conservation zone
By Dewwanthi Karunarathna | January 18, 2008
The objective of this study is to assess the economic impacts of Knuckles Conservation Zone (KCZ) on the livelihoods of peripheral households and vise versa the impact of the utilization of forest resources by households on the sustainability of the forest after the conservation zone declaration. A detailed population survey, observations, participatory methods and discussions were conducted to gather information as part of an EU funded IUCN project on forestry governance. Around 57% of the households are poor. Following the declaration, there has been a significant reduction in the number of households harvesting non-timber forest products (NTFP) even for subsistence purposes. The share of income derived through NTFP out of total household income is very minimal. Almost all households had been harvesting NTFPs earlier and now it has been reduced to 60% of households. Banning of chena cultivation in the forest area, following the conservation zone has posed negative impacts on livelihoods, as chena was one of the main income sources earlier. This natural resource has a higher potential for ecotourism, as viewed by communities. It is necessary to compensate for the loss of income from chena and reduced access to subsistence products from the forest. The future policies should be formulated in a way that provides economic incentives to the peripheral communities, which will encourage them to use the forest in sustainable manner. This could include sharing the tourist few with the affected households. Each household would need to receive about Rs. 15, 000 per year to cover the lost access rights to the forests.
K Wickramasinghe and P Steele
Institute of Policy Studies of Sri Lanka
Topics: Ecotourism, symposium 2006 |