Power in the policy, legal framework and practice of collaborative forest management in Uganda

Abstract

Collaborative Forest Management (CFM) has previously been assessed on its ability to deliver the twin objectives of forest conservation and improved livelihoods of Forest Adjacent Communities (FAC). However, these prior assessments do not account for the influence of the exercise of power within the CFM arrangement, even when it is acknowledged that power affects its practice. In order to address this gap, Uganda’s policy and legal framework documents relevant to CFM were analyzed, 27 state and non-state actors were interviewed as key informants and 64 CFM group members randomly surveyed within a framework of Lukes’ (2005) 3Dimension Power Theory to determine how power plays out and its implication on Uganda’s CFM practice. Document content analysis and thematic analysis revealed that FAC’s participation in CFR forest management is only a co-optation in the sole management mandate of the National Forestry Authority (NFA), as CFM is not legally recognized as an independent forest management practice. Additionally, FAC economic livelihoods, that is, benefit-sharing is deliberately eliminated from the CFM agenda. Power in Uganda’s CFM arrangement, therefore, is legitimated to be exercised through conferring management mandate solely on only the NFA; and by eliminating benefit-sharing from the CFM agenda. Forest policy and legal reform that legally provides for the independence of the CFM arrangement, benefit-sharing, and building trust between NFA and FAC CBOs participating as CFM groups, is essential for attaining the ideal of power-sharing which is conducive for CFM practice.