The assessment of community-based national forest-trail management in Taiwan

Resumen

On account of the reduction of manpower in Taiwan government agencies, community-based national forest-trail management has become an urgent and important issue in recent years. Many activities such as trail management and maintenance had been transferred to community residents who live next to the trails. This study tried to evaluate the challenges and effects of community-based national forest trail management at four famous forest trails in I-Lan County, Taiwan. The results showed that the degree of public participation decreased year by year due to the lack of funding and manpower. Short term government subsidies increase the effectiveness of trail operation, but it is not continuous and steady. This phenomenon has seriously affected the long-term development of national forest-trail management. For this reason, many communities suggested that charging the user fees might be a viable option for sustainability. We believe the community participation and public interests in trail management could be enhanced by increasing financial resources and pursuing local development initiatives at the community level.