Assessing Social Capital Studies Related to Community-Based Forest Management in Asian Countries: A Review

The aim of this study is to identify trends in social capital-focused studies on community-based forest management and collective actions related to forests (collectively CBFM) and how social capital affects forest management by reviewing studies on this topic in Asian developing countries. We found an increased number of studies over the last decade using various approaches in terms of social capital positioning, types of structural social capital, and analysis methods. Four main social capital positionings were identified in their research designs: (a) as features found in communities; (b) as a factor influencing CBFM; (c) as an effect of CBFM; and (d) as an agent in a dynamic process involving CBFM. The studies we reviewed did not extend to assessing forest conditions. Given the contextual nature of social capital, integrative approaches combining qualitative and quantitative techniques with assessment of forest conditions present challenges in relation to social capital studies on CBFM.