Social Capital and Forest Conservation: Do they have any relationship?
Paper Details
Social Capital and Forest Conservation: Do they have any relationship?
Abstract
This research is explored to find out the relationship between social capital and forest conservation. From the research, it has been found that where social capital status is strong in society forest conservation is easier. To find out this result two sites were selected. Three villages from the Rangamati site and two villages from the Sitakunda site. Thirty households were surveyed from both sites by a structured questionnaire. The Main was given to the amount of forest resource extracted by the villagers, collective action in forest conservation, participation, groups and networks, trust and solidarity, social cohesion and inclusion among the people. Scores found in the study are 5 and 2.1 for trust in the Rangamati site and Sitakunda site respectively. It indicates a deep trust among the people in the Rangamati site and opposite in the Sitakunda site. In the question of willingly help 5 is scored in the Rangamati site and 2.3 on the Sitakunda site. It indicates that people of the Rangamati site are more helpful than the people of the Sitakunda site. In the case of participation for forest conservation, many of the people of the Rangamati site willingly take part in collective action (e.g. 47% of respondents work collectively in plantation) where Sitakunda people are less in amount (e.g. 40% in plantation). All other variables also show the differences in social capital status between the two sites where the Rangamati site scored more. In the case of extraction of forest products, Rangamati people are more aware than the people of the Sitakunda site. So, from the above discussion, it can be said that social capital is playing a central role in forest conservation.
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