School of Economics and Management, Beijing Forestry University, Beijing, China.
Department of Forest Conservation, Sampathpaya, Battaramulla, Sri Lanka.
PLoS One. 2020 Sep 30;15(9):e0239405. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0239405. eCollection 2020.
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 program is that it was found to reduce invasive species and forest fires. The program reduced the amount of invasive species up to six times less than previous. The findings revealed that the impact of CF on forests may vary depending on pre-existing forest conditions, length of period to implement, perception, and decisions by local people. Community understanding and decision-making, in tandem with government policy, will weigh heavily on its future effectiveness.
斯里兰卡的社区林业（CF）项目始于 20 世纪 80 年代初，当时全球范围内出现了保护森林资源并为当地社区带来利益的趋势。然而，对于 CF 对森林资源的影响，人们知之甚少。我们使用前后对照控制影响法评估了 CF 对斯里兰卡中间地带半混交常绿林森林状况的影响。该研究以树木密度、更新、木本物种多样性和干扰证据作为参数，分析 CF 项目的影响。使用差异中的差异方法对数据进行分析。结果表明，CF 项目显著增加了幼苗和幼树的密度，并减少了人为干扰。CF 项目的一个主要贡献是发现它可以减少入侵物种和森林火灾。该项目减少的入侵物种数量比以前少了六倍。研究结果表明，CF 对森林的影响可能因现有森林状况、实施期限、当地人民的看法和决策而有所不同。社区的理解和决策，以及政府的政策，将对其未来的有效性产生重大影响。
