This reports the evaluation of the social forestry component of the Sri Lanka Australia Natural Resource Management Project (SLANRMP) in the Kurunegala District. The main objective of this component was to contribute to poverty reduction through improved natural resource management in the dry and intermediate zone of Sri Lanka through community participation.
The study focused on three forest ranges in Kurunegala District namely Mahawa, Galgamuwa and Malsiripura. Ihalathimbiriyawa village was selected from Mahawa Range while Dalapotugama and Katiyawa villages were selected from Galgamuwa and Malsiripura Ranges respectively. 30% of the households participating in the Project were selected from each forest range at random while those who are not participating were taken as control. Secondary data were collected from published reports while primary data were collected using questionnaire surveys, focal groups discussions and key informant surveys and field observations.
The project was able to reach more than 90% of the households in both Dalapotugama and Ihalathimbiriya villages while it was only 60% in Katiyawa village. In each village Community Based Organisation was functioning well and was registered with the Divisional Secretary. The participation of female members as Office Bearers was very high in all the villages (59-70%). The level of participation of the communities in project related work was highest in Ihalathimbiriyawa (95%) compared with others Dalapotugama and Katiyawa which was 60%. The extent of forest replanted/protected and maintained was high in Dalapothagama and Ihalathimbiriyawa (107-192 ha) but this was much smaller in Katiyawa (42 ha). In all the three villages the occurrence of forest fires decreased to none in the year 2007. With regard to availability of water, more rainwater harvesting was significant after the Project. Although the total no of non agricultural activities did not change much, there was a market shift towards skilled labour after the project.
The main reason for participating in the project was for financial benefits as well as protection of the village environment (26%). More group and individual savings with the project (95.6%). More credit sources introduced which placed less reliance on the mudalali. More credits were taken for farming activities (43%) with the project as from only 4% without the project. Credit limits also increased from 10.5% to 52.3 % for the range Rs. 5000-20,000 which showed that the people’s livelihoods had enhanced significantly. The common mode of transport shifted from the push bike to motor cycle.
(40% to 64%).
The number of micro enterprises generated from the Project, especially the ones which are successfully continuing are rather few in all three villages (4-6% of the total households enrolled). However, loans had been applied for other enterprises and had been approved too. Apart from the Forest Department about 8 other agencies have established contacts with the communities with project related work. However, a major drawback experienced was lack of forward market contracts which might be a deterrent to the sustainability of the Project.
H.D.P Sumanapala1 D.M.S.H.K Ranasinghe2 and Manoj Kumar Nathy31Forest Department, 2University of Sri Jayawardenapura, 3Sri Lanaka Australia Natural Resource Management Project