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Institutional Challenges in Sustainable Forest Management: Evidence from the Gambella Regional State of Western Ethiopia

This article explores the ambiguity over property rights to forest resources in the Mejengir Zone of Gambella Regional State in western Ethiopia. Household surveys and focus group discussions were used as data collection tools. Results indicate that the complexities in forest management are mainly attributable to diversity in livelihoods as well as users’ heterogeneity in perceptions and actions. Ambiguity was created both through the process of decentralization in forest management and the demarcation of regional forest priority areas without public participation. The weakness of the state in undertaking effective supervision to overcome corruption has also exacerbated this problem. A lack of well-defined property rights has resulted in deforestation and loss of biodiversity, and unclear property rights, reflecting an ineffective local forest governance structure. The resulting behavioral uncertainty among users puts pressure on forest resources, which favors the conversion of forests into other land use models. State development programs were also found to be sources of ambiguity over property rights and thereby created challenges for collective forest management. Therefore, local institutional structures should be improved to help accommodate more traditional systems of forest management and to ensure sustainability in forest management practices.