Factors Associated to the Performances of Local Administration Organization in Encouraging Forest Conservation of Local Communities, Chiang Mai Province

Abstract

Local administration organizations have been authorized to encourage forest conservation by local communities. This study aims to analyze the factors associated with and opinions about the performance of local administration organizations in encouraging forest conservation by local communities. Management and promoting participation of local communities are important areas of encouragement that lead to the achievement of the goals of conservation. Data were collected by questionnaire and interview with participants from six local administration organizations in Doi Saket and Mae On Districts, Chiang Mai. The results of the Chi-Square test indicate the factors associated with the management performance of local administration organizations at the 0.10 significance level, including 1) local communities: participation, community capacity, community leader, and strength of conservation network 2) organization staff: volunteer spirit, skill, experience, knowledge, and dedication 3) organization leader: vision, work priority, intention and endeavor, and managerial skill and 4) others: implementation support, financial support, and staff support from related agencies. Similar factors were also significantly related to the performance of local administration organizations in promoting participation in forest conservation, except for knowledge of organization staff, and implementation and staff support from related agencies. In addition, findings from our interviews suggest that several factors were necessary for improving the performance of local administration organizations in forest conservation. These included, in order, the allocation of appropriate budget, efficient communication, improvement of staff competency, networking, new strategies to encourage local communities, and development of foundational databases.