The impact of women's participation in community forest governance

CHAPTER FOUR
THE IMPACT OF FOREST RESOURCE DEGRADATION ON WOMEN
Most of the basic needs of people such as food, fodder, fibre, shelter, fuel, medicine, raw material for industry, e.t.c. are derived from plants. These products are obtained from various plant species which are found in the wild. Forests especially the indigenous flora have three main roles: ecological use (soil and water conservation, tourism: e.t.c.), unforeseen future use (some useful products and genetic resources are not yet discovered), and scientific value (research). However, the potential role of forest resources in socio-economic terms can be figured in terms of promising genetic resources for agriculture, horticulture, agroforestry, medicine, afforestation, soil amelioration, tourism, sources of building materials, energy, habitat, foreign exchange and non-wood products .29******(Seyani, 1990)
The loss of access to forest resources does not only occur with deforestation of primary forest, but also where commercial tree plantations replace primary forests. It is a well known fact that tree plantations of introduced species planted for commercial purposes for local and international markets, do not have the non-timber forest products of primary forests, particularly resources used for housing, household items, food, fuel, handicraft and medicines.30******( WRM’s bulletin Nº 59, June 2002).
Similarly, Chongoni forest plantation is a commercial tree plantation that replaced 5 200 hectares of the primary Chongoni natural forest. Indeed industrial plantations with tree species for commercial purposes do not have adequate NTFP as witnessed in the case of Jeremiya village. As earlier noted, the village bemoaned the inadequacy of the forest products obtained from the forest plantations as compared to the historical past when the area was covered by natural plants. Furthermore, Chongoni forest plantation has may compartments without trees either because they were cleared and not planted or because they were damaged by fire, pest and diseases or heavy storms. This also contributes to the degradation of forest resources.
According to Chakwana et al, forests have a potential role in social and economic wise, and their depletion will negatively affect the communities contagious to the forests as well as the nation at large. This denotes the general effects of forest resource degradation on a relatively broader context. However, less well-known are the specific impacts that commercial tree plantations have on women, particularly those related to changes in the availability of resources commonly found in forests and scarce or absent in plantations.
Deforestation affects women much more than men, and the poorer they are the worse it is for them. Thus, in the late 1980s a study found that tribal women in Orissa (India) played a major role in the economy, working on average three hours a day longer than men, a workload that significantly increased with deforestation. Tribal women have been traditionally involved in collecting water, fodder, fuel and other non timber forest products, while the men have done most of the cultivating and hunting. With deforestation, women’s work of fetching and carrying becomes more difficult, since they have to go farther and farther from their villages to reach the receding tree line. Although in traditional forest communities, particularly tribal ones, there has often been a greater degree of equality between men and women, there still has been an unequal division of labour.31**********.
Another study carried out in tropical forests shows that, among other, these types of impacts on women include: Food scarcity where women are traditional collectors of vegetables found in forests. As primary forests are cleared to give way to plantations, food is no longer available, except in “deep forest” areas where only men can go (and not the periphery or edges of the forest where women have access). As a result, women find it harder to collect the necessary food resources and become more dependent on men to collect vegetables from the forest.32*********.
Women surrounding Chongoni forest plantation are experiencing the same problem of food scarcity particularly due to removal of primary forests in preference of industrial plantations and rampant deforestation that leaves land bare. One respondent at Chiphanzi explained; “Nthawi zambiri timakapeza ndiwo zamasamba tikalowa mu nkhalango koma pano sitimazipezanso chifukwa mitengo inatha” (we used to get vegetables from the forest but nowadays we don’t because of the deforestation). In a different interview at Mpalale village, it was indicated that; “ndiwo zambiri zamasamba, bowa, zipatso ngati masuku, nthudza ndi zakudya zambiri zikusowa mu nkhalango yathu chifukwa chakuti mitengo yambiri ya chilengedwe inadulidwa pofuna kubzala ya chizungu. Koma madera amene mitengoyi ikanalipo zakudyazi zikumapezekamo” (Vegetables, fruits and all forms of food gathered from the forest are insufficient because of the removal of natural forests to give way to plantations. In places where there are natural forests they still have these resources in abundance).33****** (Ennetti Zimion 17/08/09).
This shows that women are traditional food gatherers found in forest as compared to men and the depletion of forest that leads to food scarcity negatively affect women more than any member in their communities.
The study in tropical forests also established that firewood is scarce in tree plantations and collection is restricted in some areas, thereby increasing the hours spent by women to collect less wood than before. As a consequence, women now also rely on men to collect firewood, as men have access to larger areas of forest, which are further away.34**********.
In all the five sampled villages surrounding chongoni forest plantation, the problem of firewood was cross cutting. During the interviews with village heads, they all bemoaned the scarcity of firewood in the plantations such that women are walking longer distances to get firewood. The timber plantations mostly do not provide enough firewood because trees are pruned regularly to ensure quality timber. In a focus group discussion at Chiphazi, one participant said; “sometimes we get firewood from the pine plantation when they are clear felling, but often times we walk long distances to get firewood from the natural trees up hill”. It was also pointed out that; “the collection of firewood is restricted such that entry into the forest is upon payment and if found without a permit (in form of a ticket), you are detained at the forest station at Ngoma or MCF”.35 *****(Elimita Kachigamba, Chiphazi Village, 17/08/09). This was contrasted to the past period when they had the natural forest close to the communities where firewood was fetched within commutable distances.
On Water scarcity, some introduced species (e.g. eucalyptus) require large amounts of water and can cause the lowering of the water table and loss of water resources for consumption and agriculture. The same is applicable to commercial teak plantations that have similar impacts on water resources. As a result, during the dry season women can spend 10-12 hours a day making two trips for water due to the depletion of water resources by plantations, thus resulting in added work burdens for women.
The degradation of Chongoni forest has also directly impacted on the water bodies that depend on the forest. For instance; Mainza, Ngoma and Mlonza stream which eventually flow into Linthipe River are no longer perennial as they used to be. This may be due to siltation which is a direct result of soil degradation. The drying up of the rivers affects women form the surrounding communities, who have the duty to fetch water for the household. This means that women have to walk long distances and stand at a queue to fetch water for domestic purposes. During the focus group discussion at Kankhomba village, one respondent said; “Tikafuna kuchapa, kutsuka katundu, ndi ntchito zina za pakhomo tinkagwiritsa ntchito madzi a mutsinje koma lero mitsinje ikumapezeka nthawi yamvula yokha, kukachita ng’amba tonse timakawunjikana ku mjigo kudikira madzi”.(we used to fetch water from the streams for our domestic chores but today the streams run during the rainy season only thereafter we queue at the borehole).36******(Femiya Lebani, Kankhomba village: 17/08/2009).
This demonstrates that water scarcity affects women directly because they are the ones who fetch water for the household. The degradation of the forest, therefore, negatively affect women because it leads to soil erosion thus causing siltation in the streams which lower water tables and eventually dry to cause water scarcity.
The forest resource degradation has greatly disrupted the therapeutic systems of the communities surrounding the forest. The forest used to provide medicinal plants which helped to cure some diseases but these medicinal plants are no longer available in the forest. At Milonde, women lamented the demise of important plants for their health. Medicinal plants that were within reach are now far beyond reach. Berita Veresoni of Milonde village regretfully said; “all the traditional birth attendants in this community have been rendered valueless because of the demise of the medicinal plants. We used to have effective health treatments locally but now we need to travel to Dedza town and pay for the medical services which were once offered in kind. Where is our past when this community was self-sufficient in almost everything?” She paused with a question.
The forest degradation in chongoni has affected women of this community because it has incapacitated the traditional health personnel that depended on herbs provided by the forest. Hence, their removal is trivial to the provision of their health services. Women on the same, used to get health services locally, especially during pregnancy and with their under five children. The long distances they walk to get health treatment in town has negative consequences in terms of their productivity in other fields like agriculture.
On an issue of HIV/AIDS, forest resource degradation has a greater impact in spreading the infection. Speakers at a conference held in Impfondo, 800km north of the Republic of Congo (ROC) capital, Brazzaville, noted that impoverished Twa pygmy women of forest communities in Burundi, DRC, Rwanda and elsewhere were turning to commercial sex work to make ends meet. Their ecosystem was about to disappear because intensive commercial hunting, opening of roads into forests due to logging activities and systematic deforestation that devastated the rich ecosystem. This situation then left pygmy women with no solution but indulging in commercial sex to earn money for their survival.37****( WRM’s bulletin Nº 48, July 2001)

Similarly, poverty has been viewed as one of the precipitating factors to the spread of HIV/AIDS in Malawi. The depletion of forest resources leaves women surrounding the forest with fewer options to survive. Men too leave their respective homes in search of greener pastures to provide for the family. This movement disintegrates the families thus creating conditions that lead to the spread of the disease.
During an interview at Kankhomba village, one woman revealed that; “my husband left for chikangawa (Viphya plantations) in search of employment long time ago and since then we have never been in touch. I support myself from sells of firewood collected illegally from the forest. But for how long will I be doing this? I have waited for long and now I am tired and I will find another man for myself”.38 The husband is a sawyer and after depletion of timber stands in Chongoni forest plantation, he went to Viphya seeking for employment. This is a clear indication that depletion of forest resources leads to social changes (i.e. disintegration of families) leading to promiscuity and thus increasing the spread of HIV/AIDS infection.
In sum, less food, less firewood, diminishing water resources and loss of medicinal plants result in increasing women’s work burden while at the same time reducing the amount of resources collected. Additionally, the scarcity of these resources incapacitate women’s independence hence dependence on men. However, the reliance on men will tend to diminish women’s roles and generate further imbalances in decision-making.

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