Community Perspectives on Effectiveness of Forest Governance and Conservation Behavior in Southwest Ethiopia: A Structural Equation Modelling and Qualitative Insights Approach

Abstract

Sustainable forest conservation fundamentally demands effective governance and the proactive conservation behavior of local communities. However, the extent to which integrated community perspectives on forest governance effectiveness and forest resource utilization shape the conservation behavior of communities in Ethiopia remains unexplored. This study investigates the community perspectives on the effectiveness of forest governance and forest use, and how those views influence satisfaction with forest conservation action among forest-dwelling communities. Data were collected from 384 randomly selected households, 24 key informants, and 10 focus group discussions. The quantitative data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and Structural Equation Modeling (SEM), while narrative analyze was used for the qualitative data. The study results reveal that the overall forest governance was found to be moderate, with varying community and gender gap perspectives on each forest governance principle ranging from low to high. The results from SEM analyze indicate that community perspectives on local forest governance effectiveness and forest resource use strongly predict forest conservation behavior by path coefficients (β = 0.23) and (β = 0.29) points, respectively. Furthermore, perceived local forest governance effectiveness indirectly contributes to sustainable forest conservation by fostering community satisfaction with forest management functions and interventions (β = 0.33). Overall, the study emphasizes the importance of both effective forest governance and sustainable forest resource use patterns in shaping the conservation behavior of the community. Forest stakeholders should focus on strengthening local forest governance, promoting sustainable forest resource use, and addressing community interests to increase their involvement in forest conservation efforts.