Response of forest management institutions to health-related shocks. Learning from the Busitema Forest Reserve of Uganda during the COVID-19 outbreak

There is extensive literature on forest management institutional responses as a function of socio-economic and political factors, albeit limited evidence on responses triggered by health shocks. To bridge this gap, this paper analyses forest management institutional response approaches around the Busitema Forest Reserve in Uganda, using the COVID-19 pandemic as a case. Household surveys (n = 135), focus group discussions (n = 4) and key informant interviews (n = 8) provided the relevant data. The results indicate that compliance with formal and informal institutions increased during the pandemic;this was attributed to fear and uncertainty about the mode of spread of the COVID-19 virus, which was flagged by mainstream media as a zoonotic disease. Formal institutional enforcement agents, therefore, used the pandemic to forward their agenda and reinforce rules that aim to exclude local people from resource appropriation in this reserve. The response was further manifested through the transposition of existing institutions to new functions, changes in rule application and the introduction of new rules. These responses paved the way for formal institutions to tighten their control of forest resource use by allying with informal institutions. The study provides complementary evidence on institutional change with an emphasis on COVID-19 as a health-related trigger.

Pandemic-induced shocks and shifts in forest-based livelihood strategies: learning from COVID-19 in the Bia West District of Ghana

The COVID-19 pandemic has reshaped societies and will continue to do so. Despite its salience, micro-scale evidence on how this pandemic reshapes the livelihood strategies of forest communities in sub-Saharan Africa are lacking. To bridge this lacuna, this paper analyses the dynamics around forest-based livelihood strategies in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Bia West District of Ghana. Key informant interviews (n = 8) and a survey of forest-dependent households (n = 100) were conducted to generate relevant data. The study identified fuelwood harvesting, medicinal plants extraction, fruit-gathering and beekeeping as the four livelihood activities that were predominantly practised in the study communities during the COVID-19 pandemic. The analysis established an increase in the number of households that diversified into fuelwood harvesting. Regarding medicinal plants collection as a livelihood strategy, less than 10% of households either diversified or intensified this practice with similar charges recorded in fruit-gathering and beekeeping. The logistic regression disclosed gender, household size, education and income, as the socioeconomic variables that significantly predict livelihood diversification and intensification during the COVID-19 pandemic. Additionally, the financial, social and physical asset base of households significantly shaped livelihood diversification. Diversification into fuelwood collection, medicinal plants extraction and beekeeping were the strategies that showed a significant positive correlation with the well-being outcomes of forest-based households. While this paper provides fresh evidence to inform the vulnerability dimension of the sustainable livelihoods framework, it further calls for policy interventions to build pandemic-resilient livelihood strategies around forest communities.