2023 Fiscal Year Final Research Report

Does Forest Conservation Contribute to the Improvement of the Nutritional Status of Rural Residents in Developing Countries?

Research Project

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Project/Area Number	19H04343
Research Category	Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
Allocation Type	Single-year Grants
Section	一般
Review Section	Basic Section 64060:Environmental policy and social systems-related
Research Institution	Forest Research and Management Organization
Principal Investigator	Ehara Makoto 国立研究開発法人森林研究・整備機構, 森林総合研究所, 主任研究員等 (70781615)
Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha)	鹿内彩子青森県立保健大学, 健康科学部, 教授 (20758825) 古川拓哉国立研究開発法人森林研究・整備機構, 森林総合研究所, 主任研究員等 (40772116) 関山牧子国立研究開発法人国立環境研究所, 環境リスク・健康領域, 主任研究員 (90396896)
Project Period (FY)	2019-04-01 – 2024-03-31
Keywords	森林保全 / 開発途上国 / 栄養改善 / カンボジア王国 / 非木材林産物
Outline of Final Research Achievements	Physical measurements of primary school children and questionnaire surveys on diet and their household financial status were conducted in 2020 and 2024 in the Prey Long Wildlife Sanctuary, Cambodia. Analysis of the 2020 data revealed that 26.1% of the 161 children were stunted and showed a trend towards higher nutritional intake from purchased food than from subsistence food. As one of the forest conservation measures is to secure a source of cash income to purchase food, the natural resin extraction industry of the Dipterocarpaceae family was highlighted as a source of income. However, illegal logging has led to a decline in resin extraction, and some households have been illegally logging their own trees and converting them to agricultural land to maintain their livelihoods. In view of this situation, a method was developed to predict the distribution of priority areas for illegal logging control.
Free Research Field	人文地理学
Academic Significance and Societal Importance of the Research Achievements	学術的意義は、地元の子どもの栄養改善を配慮した森林保全策には、森林を守るだけでなく住民が食料を購入するために必要な現金収入源を確保することも大切であることを定量的なデータを用いて示した点にある。社会的意義は、地元の子どもの栄養改善を配慮した森林保全策の具体策として、栄養価の高い食料を購入しやすくするために、保護活動の一環として世帯の天然樹脂採取などの現金収入源を守り、そこに栄養教育を組み合わせることによって、子どもの栄養状態を改善する案を、上記解析結果と共に、現地住民、州知事、行政当局、NGO、研究機関に共有した点にある。