Abstract:
Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) is a dynamic and evolving concept, which aims to
maintain and enhance the economic, social and environmental values of all types of forests, for
the benefit of present and future generations. The CFM generally focuses on community
mobilising, improving livelihoods opportunities, and forestry management activities. The
forestry management activities consist of forest protection (managing of forest offences and
forest fire), forest rehabilitation (nursery management, establishment of enrichment planting,
buffer zones and FWLs), and management activities (management of NTFPs, and CBOs). The
objective of the study was to examine how factors of age, gender and diversity (AGD) are
strategically important in Forestry activities. A mixture of qualitative and quantitative methods
were practiced, data were gathered through a structured key informant interviews and focus
group discussions, purposely developed two tools; community relationship mapping tool and
community importance and influence mapping tool (two sub-tools) were used and tested, and
desk review was done with records and reports of the Sri Lanka Community Forestry
Programme (SLCFP) which was implemented during 2012-2015. The study revealed that
shearing of benefits of forest, irrespective of AGD, with the communities is an effective strategy
to improve the sharing of responsibilities of forest conservation. The study identified that
community do have different relationship with forest resources that are liked with age, gendered
values and roles, and socioeconomic and political needs of people. While the forest community
value importance and influence of different AGD groups based on the forest activities, those
AGD groups themselves, especially of the women, too have their own assessment of importance
and power of influence of women in forestry activities, which determine the engagement of all in
forestry management. In CFP, the community does not only limits to the locals living around the
forest alone, but also includes the culture of those inhabitants. Diversity is the sum of total of the
differences which makes individuals as to who they are, and the collective abilities that they
possess to contribute towards the common goals. Age, gender and diversity mainstreaming in
CFP is a strategic and coherent approach for the management of CFP’s most valued assets: the
community, who individually and collectively contribute towards the achievement of the CFP’s
goals.
