The challenge of risk management within analog forestry interventions

The integration of environmental conservation with economic development has historically faced considerable challenges. Convincing poor rural farmers to adopt new technologies requires a high degree of trust, support and accountability between farmers and implementers. Based on the principles of Analog Forestry and Community-based Ecosystem Management, Counterpart International and its partners implement the Forest Garden Programme to provide economically viable and environmentally sound opportunities for raising rural incomes, restoring degraded land, and preserving native biodiversity through community-led management of watersheds, forests and agricultural lands. This study focuses on the participation of Sri Lankan farmers in the programme. Success of the programme, rates of adoption of and withdrawal from the programme, as well as its long-term sustainability are highly dependent on project implementers' ability to reduce risk and make substantial functional linkages between farmers and their fledgling Forest Garden-based enterprises as well as their sustainable use and stewardship of their natural resources.