Impact of forest governance and enforcement on deforestation and forest degradation at the district level:A study in West Bengal State,India

作     者：Aishwarya BASU Jyotish Prakash BASU Aishwarya BASU;Jyotish Prakash BASU

作者机构：University of BurdwanBurdwan713104India West Bengal State UniversityKolkata700126India 

出 版 物：《Regional Sustainability》 (区域可持续发展（英文）)

年 卷 期：2023年第4卷第4期

页      面：441-452页

学科分类：090704[农学-森林经理学] 0907[农学-林学] 09[农学] 

基　　金：Department of Economics University of Burdwan, BU 

主　　题：Deforestation Forest degradation Forest governance index Enforcement index Illegal logging Logistic regression model India 

摘      要：According to the United Nations Environmental Programme(UNEP),the world loses 1.0×106hm2forest land through deforestation *** 1.6×106people who depend on forests for livelihood are negatively affected by deforestation and forest *** paper attempts to study the impact of forest governance,enforcement and socio-economic factors on deforestation and forest degradation at the local level in West Bengal State,*** study was based on questionnaire survey data during 2020–2021 collected from three western districts(Purulia,Bankura,and Paschim Medinipur)where deforestation and poverty rates are higher than other districts in West Bengal *** total number of selected villages was 29,and the total sample households were 693.A stratified random sampling technique was used to collect data,and a questionnaire was *** governance and enforcement indices were constructed using United Nation Development Programme(UNDP)methodology and a step-wise logistic regression model was used to identify the factors affecting deforestation and forest *** result of this study showed that four factors(illegal logging,weak forest administration,encroachment,and poverty)are identified for the causes of deforestation and forest *** is observed that six indices of forest governance(rule of law,transparency,accountability,participation,inclusiveness and equitability,and efficiency and effectiveness)are relatively high in Purulia ***,this study shows that Purulia and Bankura districts follow medium forest governance,while Paschim Medinipur District has poor forest *** enforcement index is found to be highest in Purulia District(0.717)and lowest for Paschim Medinipur District(0.257).Finally,weak forest governance,poor socio-economic conditions of the households,and weak enforcement lead to the deforestation and forest degradation in the study ***,governments should strengthen law enforcement and encour