A thesis submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science

Thesis (M.Sc.) - Asian Institute of Technology, 2000

The purpose of the study is to assess an impact of the village forestry program, which is currently undergoing in Savannakhet province, Lao PDR. The study was conducted in four villages of Thapangthong district, where two villages are inside the project area and the other two are outside the project area. The village forestry program is one of the many systems of Lao's forest management approaches being implemented in order to find out an appropriate management system of forest resources. The study illustrated that the people's participation in forest management is influenced by people's awareness on valuable sources of forests and benefit obtained directly from the forests . Villagers inside the project area have the most opportunities to get benefit through their activities, while villagers outside this area do not. The findings of the study reveal that there is positive relationship between forest management method and people's participation. This means that local people, particularly those who live near and adjacent to the forests, play a very important role in managing the forests, without their active participation no forestry plans will success. Based on the survey, villagers gained benefits from village forestry program, which are the main source of encouragement for them to involve in management planning and operating processes. Village forestry is relatively emerging field of concern, which is still imperfect in theory and practice. Therefore, there is a great need to carry out further research on the strength and weakness of the village forestry program.