Participatory forest management for sustainable rural livelihoods and forest ecosystem services: The case of Deneba Forest Managing Cooperative in Ethiopia

Participatory forestry management(PFM) enables direct engagement of local communities in sustainable forest resource management, utilization and decision-making. This study evaluated PFM and its contribution to sustainable rural livelihood and forest ecosystem services. The study sites were selected using purposive sampling technique. The sample households were designated using a stratified random sampling from forest user groups (FUGs) and non-user groups(NFUGs). Forest inventory, household survey, focus group discussion, key informant interviews and personal field observations were used for primary data collection. Results indicated that the PFM enhances the forest cover, plantation volume ha -1, number of trees ha -1, biodiversity conservation, regeneration capacity with more seedling and sapling population, and ecosystem services. The PFM had a positive and progressive contribution to forest resource management, income diversification, poverty alleviation, which provided the opportunity to diversify livelihoods, particularly of low-income households. The main challenges to the implementation of PFM were uneven FUG participation and benefit sharing, a weak institutional capacity and support, and a lack of strong coordination among various actors. Firewood collection, construction, and search of new farmlands were the major challenges. Therefore, to mitigate deforestation, degradation of forest resources and loss of biodiversity consequently to sustainably improve biodiversity conservation, ecosystem services and livelihoods of PFM participants, the local communities, government and other key stakeholders should weaken the top -down governance of forest and empower local community governance in forest management; encourage a sense of belongingness of local communities to the forest; address the problem of open access to forest resources; and enhance the FUG income, including market networks.