Citizen Monitoring For Forest Management

The United Nations has described sustainable forest management as “a dynamic and evolving concept that aims to maintain and enhance the economic, social and environmental values of all types of forests, for the benefit of present and future generations” (FAO, 2016). This ensures a partnership in forest management between local communities and government to prioritise forest productivity and services while following the major principles of scientific forest management and its ecological, economic and socio-cultural foundation. FAO further poses scientific forest management as “the process of planning and implementing practices for the stewardship and use of forests and wooded land to meet specific environmental, economic, social and cultural objectives. 

Local community people are instilled with the sense of stewardship of forest resources as its depletion directly impacts them because of their reliance on and connection with forests.  In Nepal, there are as many as 765 forests managed by communities. In order to harness the potential of local people for sustainable forest management, it is essential to provide them with necessary support, resources, and capacity-building opportunities. This includes access to education and training, technical assistance, and facilitation of community-led initiatives. Empowering local communities with the tools and knowledge to actively participate in decision-making processes and forest monitoring strengthens their ability to contribute effectively to sustainable forest management.

Stewardship 

Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) is a global, not-for-profit organisation dedicated to the promotion of responsible forest management worldwide by creating new incentives for forest owners, managers and communities to preserve valuable ecosystem services. By  working with communities, non-governmental organisations, tourism organisations, forestry and water companies, and governments, Under the project of FSC, 73 community forest user groups in the Charnawati Landscape in Dolakha district  carried  out activities to enhance carbon sequestration (controlling fires, reducing grazing impacts, improving timber harvesting practices) and protect water sources (increasing forest cover – particularly on steep mountain slopes, excluding livestock, and improving waste management.

 Such collaborative forest management policies implemented by the national government strive to ensure the restoration of large and continuous patches of forest and strengthen forest governance by incorporating local perspectives, traditional knowledge (supplemented with new technology) and sustainable practices in their decision-making. Nepal’s rich natural resources comprise of 118 different ecosystems and 35 different types of forests. Community-managed forest has expanded the overall concept of citizen science by participating them in data collection, evaluation and monitoring conservation efforts of the natural environment. Community engagement is a vital component of environmental policy and engaging local stakeholders has proven to be cost-effective, participatory and empowering. 

They can gain capacity to monitor their environment, evaluate interventions and assess ecosystem services and it is through citizen science, people get access to ICTs, to better understand, monitor and connect with nature. Established in 2014, Rainforest Connection, a non-profit conservation technological company, has employed bio-acoustic methods to analyse threats and disturbances in the global rainforest and send real-time alerts through mobile software applications to alert the authorities. In simple terms, bioacoustics monitoring is the monitoring mechanism that records and analyses animals’ vocalisations to properly identify their presence to measure their quantity and abundance in certain area. 

This organisation’s systems rely on acoustic sensors that collect acoustic data and monitor the ecosystem soundscape year-round. This scalable way to observe change in biodiversity has offered solutions for environmental policymakers to bridge policy gaps. By partnering with indigenous communities of Brazil and Kenya, this technological initiative has not only stopped illegal poaching and deforestation but also detected endangered species and keystone mammals in the region.

Global Forest Watch (GFW) is an interactive online forest monitoring and alert system designed to empower people everywhere with the information they need to better manage and conserve forest landscapes. In 2014,World Resources Institute, with partners including Google, USAID and many other organisations designed this monitoring and alerting tool that uses cloud computing and satellite imagery to deliver real-time data about deforestation, forest fires, commodities globally. It uses cutting-edge technology and science to provide the timeliest and most precise information about the status of forest landscapes worldwide, including near-real-time alerts showing suspected locations of recent tree cover loss. GFW is free and simple to use, enabling anyone to create custom maps, analyse forest trends, subscribe to alerts, or download data for their local area or the entire world.

Capacity building

Citizen monitoring encourages equitable and sustainable forest management, promoting the long-term preservation of forests and the welfare of communities by amplifying local voices and incorporating traditional knowledge. The aforementioned scientific initiative is important for community users as it provides them enough data and evidence without sophisticated technical expertise. This innovative technology applied in the sustainable forest management mechanisms in Nepal brings government, community members and other stakeholders to invest and create evidence-based long-term plans for sustainable restoration of low-integrity forests. 

According to the Forest Landscape Integrity Index, 31 per cent of forests worldwide face direct pressure from adjacent anthropocentric activities like industrialisation, infrastructure development and agro forestry which has deterred the resilience of forests to the impacts of climate change. Development and forest conservation can go hand-in-hand, if innovative tools like Global Forest Watch and Bio-Acoustic Monitoring provide a base for drafting smart policies, enforcing environmental laws and making businesses and users committed and responsible to achieve conservation and climate goals.  

(Samapika is a freelance writer. gautamsamapika7@gmail.com)