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Published:
Dec 31, 2021DOI:
10.4314/mlr.v15i2.2Keywords:
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Main Article Content
Community Participation as Power Distribution: Insight into Law and Practice in Sheka Forests Conservation
Samuel Yohanis Degoma
Tegbaru Terefe Feyissa
Abstract
Community participation is a pillar principle in democratic decision-making processes. It is redistribution of power among public institutions, officials and people. With regard to forest conservation, Ethiopian laws and practices in Sheka Zone were examined by using Sherry Arnstein’s model of citizen participation. We argue that community participation recognized in the FDRE Constitution falls under the fifth rung of the ladder of citizen participation: placation. In pursuits of forest conservation, the right of citizens to have their views and opinion be taken into account is not guaranteed. The practice in Sheka Zone ignores the role of community participation, and it does not go beyond the rung of informing. This rung is a stunted one-way communication, and the community members in the Sheka Zone were simply informed about what is planned. Qualitative methodology is employed including legal analysis and literature review with some data collected through interviews, FGD and observation.
