An Investigation of the Factors Influencing Community Participation in Forest Management: A Case of Balaka District, Malawi

Abstract

Forests are vital for the environment through the support which they provide to biodiversity. They also provide cultural, social and economic support to human welfare. Forest degradation is attributed to multiple land uses which include agriculture, human settlement, the use of trees as the main source of energy and other infrastructure development. The main objective of the study was to assess factors that influence community participation in forest management in Kangankundi village forest area in Balaka District, Southern Malawi. Simple random sampling was used to select 100 community members who were interviewed in the study. Data were analyzed in SPSS version 22. The results showed positive significant relationship between community awareness and community participation (p = 0.015), and also between economic benefits and community involvement (p = 0.003). Involvement was not affected by income-generating activity which showed that (p = 0.781) and level of education (p = 0.535). Community awareness and economic benefits appear to be the main factors influencing community participation. Firewood and bamboos were noted to be the most resource obtained from the forest and beekeeping was also the income-generating activity in the study which is being promoted. It is concluded that community participation is influenced by many factors. The study recommends that youth must be deliberately involved in forest management as opposed to the current participation which is dominated by elderly people.