Comparative Study of Forest under Participatory Forest Management: A Case of Belete Gera Forest, Southwest Ethiopia

Participatory forest management has attracted strong interest to improve forest condition and forest based livelihoods. The objective of the study was to assess the situation where participatory forest management works best. Data were collected from 137 households and 58 plots. The result showed that inverted J shape population structure based on diameter classes both for forest with and without coffee. More regeneration were recorded under forest without coffee. Shannon-Wiener diversity index of 2.98 in forest without coffee and 2.13 in the forest with coffee was calculated. Forest income to forest users on average on annual basis was calculated to be 8499 and 376 ETB to forest users with and without coffee respectively. An independent t-test shows forest coffee users obtain significant income compared to forest users without coffee. A chi square result showed that it is less probably the occurrence of forest income difference due to chance (x (1) = 137.000, p>0.05). Further analysis indicates that 63% of forest users without coffee obtain less than 376 2 ETB per year. 47 % of forest users without coffee utilize forest only for consumption in a form of fuelwood, medicinal plants. The benefit of the forest to the member of forest users showed that 67% of forest users were obtain below average ( 4348 ETB per year), of which 75% were forest users without coffee. The relative contribution of forest income to forest users with coffee and without coffee was 40.6% and 2.3% respectively. The finding shows subsistence oriented forest dependency of forest users without coffee and cash oriented forest dependency of forest users with coffee. Improving forest condition and forest based livelihood requires taking into account the market value of forest products. The current human disturbance indication is the turning point to look options for livelihood improvement.