Forest Composition and Ecosystem Services of

1
Forest Composition and Ecosystem Services
of Community Conserved Areas in Rajasthan,
India Meha Jain Ecology, Evolutionary, and
Environmental Biology Ph.D. Candidate
Introduction Community-conserved areas (CCAs),
which are biodiversity-rich regions managed and
used by indigenous peoples, may conserve
biodiversity and provide ecosystem services to
local communities. However, CCAs are not widely
recognized as a viable form of conservation. This
is because the ecological characteristics of CCA
forests are poorly understood. Thus, this study
quantifies the ecological qualities of CCA
forests as well as the ecosystem services offered
to communities.
Results
Discussion Considering the woody plant variables
measured in this study, the CCA was better in
community forest structure. The CCA also
provided significantly more ecosystem services in
the form of firewood than the unmanaged village
forest. This suggests that CCAs may be a
practical way to preserve biodiversity and forest
cover while also promoting indigenous
communities livelihoods. In addition, there is a
gender gap in the local governing body fewer
women make decisions about resource use even
though women are the ones predominantly
collecting forest products. Therefore, forest
conservation may be more effective if women
increasingly participate in the local governing
body. Finally, both communities had a strong
desire to conserve water and forest resources.
Therefore, leaders in the village with no
regulations may be able to mobilize a portion of
the population to conserve forests.
Density B - 21.33 trees, BK 34.72 trees p lt.05
Diversity B .43, BK .79, plt.05
Height B .8 m BK 1.1 m p lt.01
Extraction Female B 88 BK
75 Government Female B 10 BK 3

• Methods
• one village manages its forest resources (BK)
• the second village has no regulations (B)
• Ecological and socio-economic data were collected
  from both villages. For ecological data, forest
  plots were used to determine
• woody plant height and diameter, density,
  species richness, and harvesting intensity.
• Socio-economic data considered
• the amount of firewood collected per week,
  gender composition of local governing body, and
  views of conservation.

The study was carried out in two villages in
Alwar district, Rajasthan, India. While both
villages extract forest products for their
livelihoods,
Diameter (DBH) B 1.1 cm BK 2.6 cm p lt.01
Village believe conservation is beneficial to
livelihoods B 55, BK 92.5
Firewood collected per week B 51.8 kg, BK
218.5 kg plt.01
Future Studies For my dissertation, I will
increase the scope of this study by conducting a
comparative analysis that examines the forest
community structure and ecosystem services of 15
different CCAs across India. This will better
determine the effectiveness of CCA forest
management plans.
Harvesting Intensity B 2.44, BK 2.96, p lt.01
Acknowledgements Compton Foundation,
Intercultural Resources