Why Social Capital Matters for the Success of REDD+ Programs

Background and objective: We quantitatively estimated the impact of social capital on poverty reduction using a survey conducted on 335 randomly selected households in 6 villages running REDD+ programs in Bago Province, Myanmar. Our central question is whether the effectiveness of REDD+ programs is associated with social capital, including networks, trust, cooperation, and social inclusion. Methods: We developed a tool to measure social capital while considering forest conservation activities, and quantitatively analyzed the impact of social capital on poverty levels in 6 villages running REDD+ programs in Myanmar. Results: Our results reveal that social capital has a significant effect in alleviating household poverty in Myanmar. Thus, investment in social capital may help alleviate poverty. REDD+ training participants and community forestry members showed a relatively higher level of social capital than those who did not participate. We also found that forest dependents were statistically significantly more likely to live in poverty, which implies that socially marginalized residents tend to rely more on forests and that collecting forest products has limited effects on overcoming poverty. Conclusion: The local strategy for implementing REDD+ programs should target community forestry members to promote their social capital by supporting forest tenures and benefit sharing among marginalized people.