SEAS Events

Title:

The Role of Religion in Sustainable Forest Management

Chair:

Dr. Derek Van Berkel

Zoom:

https://umich.zoom.us/j/95449197002

Abstract:

Religion shapes land use, authority, and collective action across much of the world, yet its role in sustainable forest management remains insufficiently synthesized and causally understood. This dissertation uses three complementary approaches—a systematic map, a quasi-experimental evaluation, and survey experiments—to examine the existing evidence on religion-associated forest outcomes, the implications of rights recognition for forest conservation, and the effects of religious identity and institutional trust on support for forest protection.

First, a systematic map characterizes the peer-reviewed evidence on religion-related conditions and tree-based forest outcomes among contemporary populations. The evidence is geographically concentrated, particularly in India, China, Ethiopia, and Nigeria, and rigorous causal designs are rare. Religion-associated forests are often linked to favorable outcomes, but mechanisms remain underspecified and context dependent. Notably, every publication reporting that rules were in effect in the religious condition also reported at least one positive outcome for forest composition, structure, or area, suggesting rulemaking as a potential mechanism.

Second, the dissertation evaluates the early effects of India’s Forest Rights Act (FRA) in the southern Western Ghats. Using delayed implementation in Tamil Nadu relative to neighboring early-implementation states, annual remote-sensing data from 2000–2015, and a matched difference-in-differences design, the analysis finds that early-implementation areas retained approximately 0.8 percentage points more undisturbed tropical moist forest than they would have under delayed implementation. The findings do not support claims that rights recognition necessarily caused rapid, widespread forest loss in the study area and instead indicate its compatibility with forest conservation.

Third, two survey experiments with 855 Christians in the United States examine support for forest-protection projects managed by ingroup religious organizations, outgroup religious organizations, or the government. Respondents supported government- and ingroup-managed projects similarly but were substantially less willing to support outgroup management. Outgroup management redirected support primarily toward government projects and modestly increased non-contribution. Personal benefits increased support but did not eliminate management-based differences, while religiosity, institutional trust, and forest-protection attitudes conditioned preferences.

Together, the findings show that religion’s relationship with forests depends on how rules, rights, organizational affiliations, and trust interact within particular institutional and social contexts. Attending to these dynamics can support more inclusive, legitimate, and durable approaches to sustainable forest management.