PUBLIC PARTICIPATION AS SOCIO-INCENTIVE TOOL IN THE CONSERVATION OF FOREST: INSIGHTS FROM UASIN GISHU COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract

Community participation is an emerging socio-incentive tool needed to be inculcated in resource management; however, the influencing effect for households to participate is understudied. Therefore, this study sought to determine possible influencing level of participation in forests resources management, and to examine determinants that either support or constraints participation. Structured questionnaire was administered to 234 rural households in Uasin Gishu County, Kenya, while multi-stage and systematic random sampling was employed as sampling procedure. Expressed WTP values from hypothetical market scenarios on either presence or inexistence of participation were used to determine its influence, while determinants of public participation were analysed using OLS regression model. Additionally, Logit model was used to analyse the probability of influence of each selected variable in this study. Results showed that participation is an incentive that could contribute to about 60% of WTP value for the management of forests. Again, OLS regression results revealed that variable of education level (t = 1.052, p< 0.1) and households income (t = 0.2.694, p< 0.05) supports participation, and variable of family size (t = – 0.121, p< 0.01) impedes participation, while their probability to influence was at 55.7%, 57.0% and 49.3%, respectively. These findings point the need to contextualise education level, income and family size of the population when formulating participation policies and programs by the forests conservation authorities. However, significance of random factor (t = 27.094, p< 0.001), with its probability to influence at 73.0%, explains existence of unobserved variables that influences participation suggest the need for further investigation on variables beyond the scope of this study. The implication of this finding informs resource managers to identify and adopt an implementation mechanism that considers critical demographic factors that enhances forests conservation to sustain forests stock flow of consumable products to the communities.