Citizen monitoring promotes informed and inclusive forest governance in Liberia.

ABSTRACT: Global forest loss depends on decisions made in the rural, often poor communities living beside the Earth's remaining forests. Governance problems in these forest-edge communities contribute to rapid deforestation and household vulnerability. In coordination with experimental studies in 5 other countries, we evaluate a program that recruits, trains, and deploys citizens to monitor communal forestland in 60 communities in rural Liberia. The year-long intervention is designed to promote more informed and inclusive resource governance, so that that citizens' preferences (and not just leaders' interests) are reflected in forest management. In our control communities, households are uninformed and disengaged; leaders' authority is unchecked. The program both engages and mobilizes community memb

SUBMITTER: Christensen D 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC8307445 | biostudies-literature | 2021 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature