Households' livelihood in restricted forest landscapes: What is the impact of contextual factors?

In response to the loss of forest cover and biodiversity, forest conservation policies have been increasingly pursued worldwide. Such policies are often criticized for limiting the access of locals to forest resources, raising the question if nature conservation and poverty alleviation goals are compatible. Few studies have attempted to examine the impact of forest restriction on the livelihood of neighboring communities by accounting for confounding factors. We address this gap by estimating the impact of contextual factors in the wider landscape as well as forest legal restrictions on households' main income sources. The current study relies on a comprehensive dataset from 3410 households living in different tropical contexts in forested landscapes of Zambia, Ecuador and the Philippines. We adopt a multi-level regression model by including explanatory variables at both household and landscape levels. Our results indicate the significance of the broader landscape's context such as elevation, road access and extent of remaining forest for households' income. Country context is particularly important in determining households' income. Households' characteristics and asset endowment play a major role too. Our findings provide no evidence that increasing restricted forest extent in landscape decreases households' income when contextual factors are controlled for. This study highlights the non-random designation of forest conservation policies, with many conservation programs being assigned to areas with little development potential. Thus, we argue that contextual factors in which households function shall be given more attention in the debate of nature protection versus poverty reduction. Suggesting the insignificant impact of forest conservation policies on households' livelihoods, our findings serve to inform policymakers in establishing effectual forest conservation policies which strike the right balance between nature protection and rural development.