Community Perspectives on Fuelwood Resources: Enrichment and Extraction Along the Eastern Slopes of Mt
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ABSTRACT COMMUNITY PERSPECTIVES ON FUELWOOD RESOURCES: ENRICHMENT AND EXTRACTION ALONG THE EASTERN SLOPES OF MT. KENYA by Sammy Muriithi Kaburi Communities living near protected forests rely on these areas to supply fuelwood among other extractive resources. This research was conducted in Kiang‟ondu sub-location within the eastern buffer zone of Mount Kenya Forest Reserve and addressed two research questions. 1) What is the diversity of fuelwood resources that communities extract from the forest reserve and enrich in their home areas? 2) What are the perceptions of communities about the opportunities for a sustainable fuelwood supply? Mixed participatory exercises revealed 32 fuelwood plants, native and non-native, which are acquired from the forest reserve or from people‟s homes and farmlands. These plants differ by their other material uses, attributes as a fuelwood, and ease of propagation. Use practices and perceptions vary with distance from the reserve but people are not fuelwood limited. Adaptive resource management can build from a local understanding of fuelwood that enhances conservation practices toward a sustainable supply. COMMUNITY PERSPECTIVES ON FUELWOOD RESOURCES: ENRICHMENT AND EXTRACTION ALONG THE EASTERN SLOPES OF MT. KENYA A Thesis Submitted to the Faculty of Miami University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Arts Department of Geography by Sammy Muriithi Kaburi Miami University Oxford, Ohio 2010 Advisor_______________________ (Dr. Kimberly E. Medley) Reader_______________________ (Dr. Ian Ernest Agyeman Yeboah) Reader_______________________ (Dr. Roxanne T. Ornelas) Table of Contents List of Tables .......................................................................................................................... iii List of Figures ......................................................................................................................... iv List of Acronyms ..................................................................................................................... v Chapter One INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................... 1 Statement of Research Purpose and Questions ........................................................................ 3 Chapter Two LITERATURE REVIEW ................................................................................................... 5 Cultural-Political Ecology of Resources Relations........................................................... 5 Fuelwood and Human Livelihoods in African Communities ........................................... 6 Participatory Research Methods to gain Community Viewpoints .................................... 7 Chapter Three THE STUDY AREA.......................................................................................................... 10 Chapter Four DATA AND METHODS .................................................................................................. 13 Diversity of Fuelwood Resources .................................................................................... 13 Opportunity for a Sustainable Fuelwood Supply ............................................................. 14 Chapter Five RESULTS .......................................................................................................................... 16 Gaining a Sense of Place.................................................................................................. 16 Diversity of Fuelwood Resources .................................................................................... 17 Opportunities for a Sustainable Fuelwood Supply .......................................................... 24 Chapter Six DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION................................................................................ 35 Diversity in Management of Fuelwood Resources .......................................................... 35 Complex Landscapes ....................................................................................................... 36 Opportunities for Sustainable Fuelwood Supply ............................................................. 37 How Participatory? .......................................................................................................... 38 ii Conclusion ....................................................................................................................... 40 References ............................................................................................................................. .41 Appendices Appendix I: List of the of the fuelwood plants in local (Chuka) names as derived from Meru and Kikuyu languages.. ......................................................................................... 46 Appendix II: Fuelwood attributes and other material uses of woody plants confirmed as fuelwood in Kiang‟ondu sub-location ............................................................................ 48 iii List of Tables Table 1: List of fuelwood trees species confirmed during the field study. Plant vouchers were deposited at the East African Herbarium (EA) and the herbarium at Miami University (MU) ........................................................................................................................................ 18 Table 2: The top ten most preferred fuelwood plants that were recorded and described in Kiang‟ondu sub-location ................................................................................................ 26 Table 3: Community perceptions on which institutions influence opportunities for fuelwood sustainability and how they influence the availability and their access to fuelwood in Kiang‟ondu sub-location. ............................................................................................... 30 Table 4: Compiled daily activities chart prepared by participants from Kariako locality. ... 31 iv List of Figures Figure 1: Conceptual framework that guided the investigation of livelihood strategies and local perspectives in relation to fuelwood resources in two communities that live in the southeastern buffer of Mt. Kenya‟s forest. ...............................................................................4 Figure 2: Location of the study area, shown with a star, in the Kiang‟ondu sub-location of the Nthi administrative district. ....................................................................................................10 Figure 3: Elder‟s map of the study area in Kiang‟ondu sub-location. ...........................................16 Figure 4: Resource map constructed by seven elderly women from different localities in Kiang‟ondu sub-location for the 1960s. .................................................................................22 Figure 5: Resource map constructed by seven elderly men, showing how fuelwood resources were distributed in the past (1960s). .......................................................................................23 Figure 6: Resource map constructed by six women and a list of fuelwood resources at the present situation. ..................................................................................................................................24 Figure 7: A group session at the Kiang‟ondu market center where residents constructed a seasonal calendar using different symbols to show various activities that are carried out in a year. One of the participants is seen explaining what the symbols represent .........................29 Figure 8: Photos and captions that show some of the opportunities for a sustainable supply of fuelwood resources in Kiang‟ondu sub-location. ..................................................................33 v List of Acronyms ICRAF International Centre for Research in Agro-Forestry KARI Kenya Agriculture Research Institute EA East Africa Herbarium MU Miami University Willard Sherman Turrell Herbarium NDP National Development Plan DDP District Development Plan IUCN International Union for the Conservation of Nature GOK Government of Kenya KWS Kenya Wildlife Society KFWG Kenya Forestry Working Group FAO Food and Agricultural Organization FAN Forest Action Network GBM Green Belt Movement FOEI Friends of the Earth International MKEP Mt. Kenya Environmental Program vi Chapter one INTRODUCTION Management of natural resources is a critical issue from both local and global scales of analyses (Dangol 2005; Homewood 2005). Extra local socio-economic-political forces and local cultural attributes complicate studies of resource utilization and management (Rocheleau 2007; Krupnik and Vakntin 2000), especially when community management and consumption strategies are restricted by policies across environmentally complex landscapes (Pare et al 2009; Rocheleau 2007; Robbins 2004; Rocheleau and Edmunds 1997). Human activities are often associated with environmental degradation and with the loss of biodiversity (Campbell 2010; Kassam 2009; Matiru 2002). Increased population is regarded as the major factor leading to land degradation because more resources have to be mobilized to meet population demands. In contrast to this „Neo-Malthusian model‟, however, cultural-political ecologists present a number of compelling case studies, demonstrating that population growth does not invariably lead to environmental degradation (Peets and Watts 1996). When accompanied by resource diversification, population growth can be an important