Contribution of Forest Restoration to Rural Livelihoods and Household Income in Indonesia

Nayu Nuringdati Widianingsih, Ida Theilade and Mariève Pouliot
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Nayu Nuringdati Widianingsih: Burung Indonesia (BirdLife Affiliate), Jl. Dadali 32, PO. Box 310/Boo, Bogor 16161, West Java, Indonesia
Ida Theilade: Department of Food and Resource Economics, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, Rolighedsvej 25, Frederiksberg C 1958, Denmark
Mariève Pouliot: Department of Food and Resource Economics, Faculty of Science, University of Copenhagen, Rolighedsvej 25, Frederiksberg C 1958, Denmark

Sustainability, 2016, vol. 8, issue 9, 1-22

Abstract: Forest resources remain vital to the survival of many rural communities, though the level of forest reliance varies across a range of sites and socio-economic settings. This article investigates variation in forest utilization across households in three ethnic groups living near a forest restoration area in Sumatra, Indonesia. Survey data were collected on 268 households, with a four-month recall period and three repeat visits to each selected household within a year. Random sampling was applied to select households in five villages and five Batin Sembilan (indigenous) semi-nomadic groups. Sampled households belonged to three ethnic groups: 15% were Batin Sembilan, 40% Local Malayan, and 45% Immigrant households. Indigenous households displayed the highest reliance on forests: 36% of their annual total income came from this source, as compared with 10% and 8% for Local and Immigrant households, respectively. Our findings showed that the livelihoods of indigenous groups were still intricately linked with forest resources, despite a rapid landscape-wide transition from natural forest to oil palm and timber plantations.

Keywords: forest reliance; rural income; ethnicity; indigenous; immigrant; frontier; forest restoration (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2016
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (3)

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