Impacts of community forestry on forest condition: Evidence from Sri Lanka's intermediate zone.

ABSTRACT: Sri Lanka's community forestry (CF) program emerged in the early 1980s following a global trend to conserve forest resources and provide benefits to the local community. However, very little is known about the effect of CF on forest resources. We assess the impacts of CF on forest conditions of semi-mixed evergreen forest in the intermediate zone of Sri Lanka using the before-after control-impact method. The study examines tree density, regeneration, woody species diversity, and evidence of disturbance as parameters to analyze the impact of the CF program. Data are analyzed using the difference in differences approach. The results show that the CF program has increased seedling and sapling density to a significant degree and reduced human disturbances. A major contribution of the CF progra

SUBMITTER: Ekanayake EMBP 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7526917 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature