Safeguarding the forest tenure rights of forest-dependent communities in Uganda: Insights from a national-level participatory prospective analysis workshop
Year: 2017
Type: book
Abstract: Key messages Participatory Prospective Analysis (PPA) proved to be effective for encouraging collective reflection to identify threats to forest tenure security and to develop ways for improving it at a national-level workshop in Uganda, where stakeholders identified several factors that strongly influence the forest tenure rights of forest-dependent communities. Factors influencing forestry tenure security that they identified were: forest resource governance; community capacity to sustainably manage forests and demand/defend tenure rights; the priority level of forestry and tenure security for development partners; local norms and beliefs that impact upon vulnerable groups' tenure rights; forestry sector financing in national budgetary allocations; and local communities' legal literacy on land / forest tenure. When analyzing the potential evolution of forest tenure security over the next 25 years, stakeholders identified some desirable potential outcomes. Among them are: forestry being prioritized in national development plans; availability of adequate financial resources; existence of capable, well-coordinated district- and national-level government structures to promote community forest tenure; availability of technical staff with capacity to equip communities with knowledge and skills to enable them to exercise their tenure rights; presence of enterprising communities with skills to innovate and adopt alternatives to forestry products; and effective enforcement of gender-sensitive forestry-related laws and policies to promote benefit-sharing equity. After analyzing potential future outcomes, both negative and positive, PPA stakeholders recommended prioritizing a set of actions to safeguard the future forest tenure security of forest-dependent communities. These actions were: improving coordination of key government agencies; adopting inclusive and participatory decision-making processes for tenure-related activity implementation; improving stakeholders' technical and financial capacity with traditional and emerging innovative financing mechanisms; and implementing policies and strategies designed to provide alternative livelihood sources, thus reducing local dependence on forests and forest products.
Language: English
Topic: Land Rights and Reforms
Subfield: Soil Science
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: hybrid
OpenAlex ID: W2770456978