Introduction

Bangladesh, a very densely populated developing country, is considered one of the countries most vulnerable to climate change (MoF 2020; World Bank 2013). Extreme climatic impacts such as increasing heavy rainfall, frequent flooding, landslide, riverbank erosion, longer drought, storm surges, salinity intrusion, and waterlogging are adversely affecting the peoples´ livelihoods, food and water security, and infrastructure in the country (Alam 2016; Jordan 2015; Monirul Alam et al. 2017; Thomas et al. 2013). People living in the rural areas, where 64% of the total population live, are very vulnerable to climate impacts because of their fragile socioeconomic conditions that include small landholdings, inadequate education, and limited livelihood options and income (BBS 2018; Fakhrul Islam 2011; Rahman et al. 2015). Most of the rural households have no farmland but they have at least homesteads surrounded by forests that support the households’ daily needs (Motiur et al. 2006; Muhammed et al. 2011). Over 20 million homestead forests in Bangladesh, comprising about 2% of the total land (Mukul et al. 2014; Salam et al. 2000), are considered as a safety net in crisis period such as flooding, drought, food crop failure due to the impact of climate change (Foysal 2013; Kabir and Webb 2009; Nath et al. 2015). Homestead forests as alternative livelihood options that provide diverse production potential of food, timber, fuelwood, fodder, non-timber forest products (NTFPs) can help increase rural households’ climate-relevant adaptive capacity (Mattsson et al. 2015; Nath et al. 2015). Despite the important role that homestead forests could play in climate adaptation, very limited research is available on this topic (Baul et al. 2021a, b; Hanif et al. 2018).

Homestead forests are considered a well-established land-use system for the conservation of biodiversity while contributing to the rural economy second to agriculture (Kabir and Webb 2009). These forest ecosystems also help with conservation and improvement of soil and water quality, as well as reduction, and removal of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions (Alessandro and Marta 2012; Lumsden and Bennett 2005; Manning et al. 2009; Plieninger et al. 2004). Since homestead forests and their biodiversity are often managed by rural households, their perceptions on the contributions of these forests in adaptation to climate change and their involvements in assessing relevant climate change impacts warrant special attention (Alam et al. 2017).

Adaptation denotes the adjustments in the human-environment system against the adverse impacts of climate change by avoiding or reducing the consequent risks or realizing potential opportunities (Cramer et al. 2014; IPCC 2018). Rural households’ experiences and perceptions towards climate change, including the changes in temperature, rainfall, and wind patterns, as well as changes in phenology and vegetation structure, are critical for a better understanding of their adaptation to climate change. Perception is the process of receiving information from the ambient environment and transforming it into physiological awareness for taking adaptation and mitigation strategies towards adverse impacts of climate change in the agroecological system (Bryan et al. 2009). However, this process could vary with the individual’s past experiences, observations, and present attitudes, needs, and social circumstances and also depending on one´s livelihood, literacy, and settlement (Baul et al. 2013; Baul and McDonald 2015; Chapagain et al. 2009).

So far, several studies related to homestead forests focused primarily on floristic compositions and their utilization (Baul et al. 2015; Kabir and Webb 2009, 2008b, a; Zaman 2010), conservation and management of biodiversity (Alam and Sarker 2011; Bardhan et al. 2012; Muhammed et al. 2011; Roy et al. 2013), and households’ perceptions of tree planting towards climate resilience (Alam et al. 2010; Motiur et al. 2006). Other studies found homestead forests as a major source of domestic fuel wood, and as an incentive for forest conservation (Mukul et al. 2014; Uddin and Mukul 2007), homestead forests and farming in mitigating droughts (Abdur Rashid Sarker et al. 2013; Alam et al. 2018; Alam 2015; Alauddin and Sarker 2014; Baul and McDonald 2014; Habiba et al. 2012; Hanif et al. 2018), and addressing climate challenges in low and saline-prone areas (Anik and Khan 2012; Hossain et al. 2012; Rashid et al. 2014). Jaman et al. (2016) and Nath et al. (2015) estimated the carbon sequestration potentials and investigated the role that the coastal homestead forests can play against disasters. However, they did not consider relevant socioeconomic factors affecting peoples´ perceptions of the role of forests’ and many of these climate adaptation strategies may not be applicable in hilly areas.

To address the research gap, this study considered homestead forest areas of Bandarban, Chittagong Hill Tract (CHT), situated in the south-eastern part of Bangladesh. However, Bandarban is rated as the second most vulnerable district on climate impacts amongst the top 10 vulnerable districts in Bangladesh (Mani et al. 2018). The district is included as a new hotspot and will likely be the worst affected region by 2050 in terms of deforestation which has recently brought in major landslides and destruction of property (Mani et al. 2018). Considering the regional background and characteristics, this study focused on Bandarban district to investigate homestead forests-based local adaptation in changing climate. Specific objectives were to (i) investigate hilly homestead forest owners´ perceptions towards climate change and associated impacts they experience, (ii) explore purposes of and preferences for homestead trees, and (iii) owners´ perceptions towards benefits of homestead forests considering various socioeconomic factors of the respective households.

Materials and Methods

Study Area

We conducted this study in the homestead forests of Bandarban Sadar Upazila (sub-district) under Bandarban district located in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh (Fig. 1). This region of Bangladesh is located in a tropical climate, with mean annual rainfall and temperature of 2630 mm and 28 °C, respectively (BMD 2019). The public forests of Bandarban district are estimated as 797,542 km2, which are managed by the Bangladesh Forest Department and district administration (BBS 2018). Prior to this, homestead forests were owned and managed by the homestead forest owners.

Fig. 1
figure 1

Map of study areas: Rajbila, Swalok and Tonakboti Unions (second lowest admisnistrative unit) with sampling points of homestead forests of Bandarban Sadar Upazila (sub-distrcit) in Bandarban District (right panel) of Bangladesh (left panel). Map of Bangladesh (left panel) showing three Unions regraded as high hill, mid hill, and low hill in Bandarban district along with sampling points of homestead forests (right panel). The Maps are created using the Free and Open Source QGIS 3.1 0, http://www.qgis.org

Full size image

Bandarban Sadar Upazila is situated between 21°55’ - 22°2’ N and 92°08’ - 92°20’ E. It has a total population of around 70,000 and occupies an area of 502 km2, of which 85 km2 is forest (Bandarban Sadar Upazila Office 2019). The land is classified as a high, medium-high, low hill, and valley, and high land, with dominant land uses including forest, agriculture, and shifting cultivation (SRDI 2018). The landscape consists of steep mountains with 90% of the soil´s texture ranging from sandy loam to clay loam soil (Osman et al. 2013). The local inhabitants are predominantly dependent on natural resources, for example, forests, lake, and associated tourism around them for their livelihoods.

Sampling Strategy and Homestead Forest Owners´ Interview

Out of five Unions (smallest administrative units), three sample unions, that were selected from low, mid, and high hills, were Rajbila, Swalak, and Tankabati, respectively. These Unions have an area of 10360, 7511, and 15281 ha, respectively (BBS 2018). The details of the methodology for sample selection were described in Baul et al. (2021a) (Fig. A1). Every household was assumed to own a homestead forest of either small or large size. From the lists supplied by the Sadar Upazila office, a total of 176 homestead forest owners were randomly interviewed at a sampling intensity of 5% (UNSD 2005) (Fig. 1). We also surveyed corresponding homestead forests to explore species composition and their contribution to the local economy, which was a related part of another study (Baul et al. 2021a). The coordinates of each homestead forest sampled were recorded by using GPS. Local guides enabled the researchers to locate and identify the samples from the lists of households.

Before we started the survey, the questionnaire was pretested with key informants with their clarity, comprehensiveness, and acceptability for the respondents (Rea and Parker 1997). A semi-structured questionnaire comprising both open and closed questions was used in the interview. The questionnaire had three sections including the socio-economic background of the households, owners´ perceptions towards climate change and associated impacts, and benefits of homestead forests. Socioeconomic background data included respondent age, homestead forest, and total land areas, housing type, and household members´ education, profession, and income status. Perceptions towards climate change entailed regular weather conditions and impacts on biophysical conditions in the form of dichotomous questions. Finally, forest owners perceived their preferences for and purposes of homestead tree species and the environmental benefits of these. The purposes and preferences for homestead trees were asked in a dichotomous form. With regard to the environmental benefits, forest owners‘ perceptions were collected based on Likert scale (1 = strongly agree, 2 = agree, 3 = disagree, 4 = strongly disagree) on each item of the benefits of homestead forests.

Data Analyses

Socioeconomic background of the sampled households of homestead forests

We calculated mean values for the respondent age, monthly income, size, literacy score, and homestead forests, and total land holdings (ha) of the households and compared them among three hill ranges. In calculating the household monthly income, the income of all earners recorded in Bangladeshi Taka (BDT) during the survey was converted into US dollars (US$) per household by applying the exchange rate of US$ 1 = BDT 84.5 (date of relevance: June 2019). In assessing literacy, the score based on the duration of every education level in Bangladesh was put against the education achieved by each member of the household and subsequently, all the scores were summed and averaged by the total number of the household members. The scores 0, 5, 10, 12, 16, 18 represented the illiterate, primary, secondary, higher secondary, graduate, and post-graduate levels of education, respectively. Moreover, the percentages of housing types and professions of all members in a household were calculated within the hill range.

Perceptions towards climate change and associated impacts and benefits of homestead forests

After analyzing within the hill site, forest owners´ perceptions towards climate change and associated impacts were expressed in percentage (%) by various options for each variable and compared among the groups. The purposes and preferences of forest owners for tree species were reported in percentage for all items within groups. Regarding the perceptions on benefits of homestead forests, agreement indices (AI) of the Likert scale used for all items were derived (Kumar et al. 2021) (Equation 1). In addition, the mean scores of the Likert scale used were calculated and reported by respondents´ age, housing type, and household members´ literacy.

$$\begin{array}{ll}{\mathrm{AI}}\,\left( \% \right) = \left(\right. {\left( {\% \,{\mathrm{agreed}} + \% \,{\mathrm{strongly}}\,{\mathrm{agreed}}} \right)}\\ \qquad\qquad\,\,- \,{\left( {\% \,{\mathrm{disagreed}} + \% \,{\mathrm{strongly}}\,{\mathrm{disagreed}}} \right)} \left)\right.\end{array}$$
(1)

Meteorological data

We collected monthly recorded data of temperature and rainfall of Bandarban district for the period of 1990–2019 from the Bangladesh Meteorological Department. Temperature and rainfall data were analyzed and trends in the changes of annual, maximum, and minimum mean temperatures and annual rainfall amount were shown for the period of 1990–2019.

Analysis of 30 years of meteorological data (Fig. 2) illustrates a trend of increasing mean annual temperature from 1990 to 2019, while mean annual rainfall amount remained constant. Annual temperatures and rainfall amount increased by 0.4 °C and 14 mm, respectively, in 2019 compared to that in 1990, which, however, were insignificant (Fig. 2a, b). There were also warming trends, manifested by increasing maximum and minimum temperatures throughout the year, corresponding to 33.5–34.7 and 17.8–18.1 °C, respectively, in 2019 compared to that in 1990 (Fig. 2c, d).

Fig. 2
figure 2

Trend of annual mean temperature (a) and rainfall (b), mean maximum (c) and minimum (d) temperature during 1990–2019 of Bandarban district, Chittagong Hill Tract, Bangladesh

Full size image

Statistical analyses

One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and post hoc test (DUNCAN) were used to determine the significant variation in mean values of the socioeconomic background of the households among three hill ranges. Pearson Chai square Test was applied to understand the association between the perceptions of forest owners (%) on climate change and associated impacts, benefits of homestead forests, and purposes and preferences for trees and hill ranges. Additionally, the independent samples t test was used to determine the significant difference in benefits of homestead forests between the means of two independent groups of respondents’ ages, gender, occupations, and households´ literacy, income, and housing types. For this analysis, we categorized respondents into two independent groups based on their age (<50 years and ≥50 years), and occupations (farming and non-farming). We also categorized them based on the literacy of the household members (primary, and secondary and above), household income (lower (≤150 $ month−1 HH−1) and higher (>151 $ month−1 HH−1)), and housing types (maccha, and semi-pucca and pucca). All these statistical analyses were performed by using SPSS 26.

Results

Socioeconomic Background of the Households of the Sampled Homestead Forests

The survey revealed that the inhabitants in the sampled households at low and high hills are the indigenous peoples including the Tanchangya, the Chakmas, the Marmas, the Mros while in the mid-hill they are Bengalis. The mean age of the respondents and the size of the households varied from 44 to 53 and 4 to 5, respectively. People from low and high hills had primary level education (literacy scores 3, 5) and people from mid-hill had secondary level of education (score 7), with significant difference (p ≤ 0.05) (Table 1). The highest percentage of people in the low and high hills were farmers and half of the people in mid-hill were businessmen, and thus contributed to mean highest income. The average monthly income in high and mid-hill significantly (p ≤ 0.05) differed from that in the low hill (Table 1). With an increase in household income a decrease in the number of households with maacha (bamboo built) houses from the low to a high hill, opposite for the tin-built and pucca houses (Table 1).

Table 1 Socioeconomic background of the households related to the sampled homestead forests by hill altitude
Full size table

Homestead Forest Owners´ Perceptions of Climate Change and Associated Impacts

The homestead survey results showed that homestead forest owners in the mid-hill were more aware of climate change compared to the other two hills (Table 2). In general, 76–94% of forest owners across three ranges perceived that temperature and erratic rainfall pattern has increased compared to the past 30 years. A total of 46% of owners perceived that the annual amount of rainfall has increased, with the respondents from the low hill being significantly highest (Table 2).

Table 2 Homestead forest owners´ perceptions towards climate change and associated impacts by hill altitude
Full size table

With regard to the impacts on physical conditions, in general, 82–94% of owners, with no significant differences among the hill ranges found an increase in the landslide and drying up of seasonal streams in the last 30 years (Table 2). Around half and a large majority of the forest owners´ perceptions were towards decreasing flood intensity and soil moisture, respectively. Regarding ranges, the forest owners´ perceptions in low hill toward increasing flood intensity was significantly higher than those in relatively high hill, who (55–68%) contrarily, commented on decreasing trend of the flood. In case of the impacts on biotic conditions, most of the owners perceived that jhum crop cultivation intensity decreased compared to the past (Table 2). The majority of the owners commented on decreasing crop production as they perceived an increasing infestation of pests and diseases, with the people in low and high hills being significantly higher than those in mid-hill. On average, 82% of the forest owners believed that change in phenology of trees took place compared to the past 30 years, for example, change in falling and arrival of leaf and flowering in trees (Table 2).

Purposes of and Preferences for Homestead Trees

In general, about 55% of the households across the altitude ranges used homesteads for their consumption of products derived from trees. The majority of the households in low and high hills were found to use homestead trees for the consumption of products, compared to the mid-hill (Table 3). On the other hand, the majority of the households in mid-hill used trees for more consumption and sale of products than those in the low and hill hills (Table 3). In addition to preferences for timber, MPTS, and fuelwood species, 39% of the forest owners preferred bamboo in their homestead for supplying weaving and building materials (Table 3). Homestead forest survey revealed a total of 968, 981, and 924 tree individuals belonging to 64, 63, and 64 species used for various purposes in the low, mid, and high hills, respectively.

Table 3 Forest owners´ purposes and preferences of homestead trees by hill altitude
Full size table

Forest Owners´ Perceptions towards Benefits of Homestead Forests and Socioeconomic Factors

Two-third of forest owners (AI 66%) perceived that homestead forests contributed to food security in crisis (Table 4). Regarding environmental benefits, a large majority of the respondents (AI 92–97%) agreed with the benefits of homestead forests for conserving moisture and mitigating heat. However, up to 20% (AI −10% to −20%) owners, mainly in low and high hills significantly disagreed with the protective role of homestead forests against natural disasters and landslides (Table 4).

Table 4 Forest owners‘ perceptions (agreement index, AI%) towards benefits of homestead forests by hill altitude
Full size table

The perceptions were also supported by the mean scores of the Likert scale by socioeconomic factors of the households. For example, owners with secondary level of education and above (mean score 1.10) were more strongly agree to agree than those with primary level of education (1.02) for the item moisture conservation, which significantly t(86.58) = −2.12, p = 0.04 differed between them (Table 5). forest owners holding the primary level of education and maacha houses, and with lower income (2.41–2.63) tended to disagree whereas owners with a secondary level of education, semi-pucca and pucca houses, and with higher income (1.78–2.13) tended to agree for the two items, protection against natural disasters and soil conservation, and these significantly differed by literacy, housing type, and household income. Mean scores of the Likert scale did not significantly vary with the age, gender, and occupations of the respondents (Table 5).

Table 5 Forest owners‘ perceptions (mean score of Likert scale 1 = strongly agree, 2 = agree, 3 = disagree, 4 = strongly disagree) on benefits of homestead forests by owners´ age, gender, occupation, and households´ literacy, income, and house types
Full size table

Discussion

Homestead Forest Owners´ Perceptions of Climate Change and Associated Impacts

Not many homestead forest owners in the study area were aware of the term climate change. However, in most cases, their understanding of climate change and associated impacts were clear. For example, forest owners elicited their perceptions on the trend of increasing temperature and heavy and unpredictable rainfall, frequent landslides, drying up of stream, and decreasing soil moisture and fertility compared to the past 30 years. Their perceptions of increasing annual temperatures and rainfall amount corroborated with meteorological data that showed an increase in annual mean temperatures of 0.4 oC from 1990 to 2019. The local perceptions, thus, were in line with climate data found in Bangladesh and India (e.g., Alam et al. 2017; Baul et al. 2013; Halder et al. 2012). It is noted that forest owners were much aware, from their long field experience with the local environment, that the local climate has changed, which was also reflected in farmers´ perceptions from other regions in Bangladesh and Nepal (Alam et al. 2017; Anik and Khan 2012; Baul et al. 2013; Khanal et al. 2018; Mahmood et al. 2010). They might be unaware of the global trend of climate; however, their understanding of changes in weather patterns (rainfall and temperature) over time helped them to adapt to climate change (e.g., Chapagain et al. 2009; Rahman and Alam 2016). These perceptions were also influenced by the altitude and local inhabitants, therefore they perceived different opinions of annual rainfall amount. For instance, the majority of the people living in the low hill were indigenous communities, who experienced an increasing trend of annual rainfall amount and flood intensity. In contrast, people living in the mid and high hills experienced a rather decreasing trend of annual rainfall amount and flood intensity. Earlier observation also indicated that individual’s past experiences and present attitudes depend on their livelihood, culture, and ecosystem of settlement (Rahman and Alam 2016).

Changes in phenology of tree species appear as a biological indicator in understanding the climate change impacts (Menzel et al. 2006). In our study, forest owners reported early leaf fall and flowering, which were observed as good signs of climate change in the hill, consistent with the study of Sharma and Tsering (2009) who also similarly reported phenological changes as indicators in Nepalese hill. A significant number of owners often found flowering in M. Indica to be negatively affected by rainfall in recent years, reducing the yield of mango. Forest owners also observed an increase in an infestation of new types of and diseases and pests, such as discoloration of fruits and leaf, and a decrease in jhum intensity and crop production in comparison to 30 years. Such observation of diseases and incidence of pest attack was also made in developing countries including Bangladesh and Nepal (Baul and McDonald 2015; Pautasso et al. 2012; Saha and Azam 2004; Tol 2006). Thus, farmers´ traditional knowledge, observations, and experiences transmitted from generation enabled them to assess and understanding climate impacts on biotic factors as they live vicinity to natural resources, with an ability to realizing temporal and seasonal change (Anik and Khan 2012; Gyampoh et al. 2009; Mahmood et al. 2010). This traditional knowledge needs to be documented before getting lost as if to use it in the decision-making process (Byg and Salick 2009; Kirkby et al. 2018).

Purposes of and Preferences for Homestead Trees

Homestead trees were used by the households for their consumption of timber and NTFPs including fruits, fuelwood, bamboo, fodder. The consumption of these products enabled them to adapt in crisis time such as adverse impacts of climate change. For example, during crop failure caused by disasters, MPTS provided households with fruits, fodder, and other NTFPs for their existence. A respondent commented “during drought when there is no enough grass as animal feeds, I collect leaves from Dalbergia sissoo, Mangifera indica, and Lannea spp. used as animal fodder.” In addition to household utilization, homestead tree products were sold as a source of income for their livelihood. In this regard, a commentary of a respondent from mid-hill was “when I have no money in my hand, I am used to sell timber and fruits derived from, Artocarpus heterophyllus, Samanea saman, Swietenia mahagoni, Cocos nucifera and bamboo as a means of earning income after meeting the demand of the household, and therefore I prefer planting of timber and MPTS species.” This might also be the reason why people from mid-hill, who were mostly businessmen, had higher income compared to the other two hill ranges as higher percentage of the housheolds from mid-hill were used to both consume and sell tree products including timber and NTFPs. Therefore, in addition to timber, fuelwood, and MPTS, bamboo species were also preferred for supplying rawmaterials in small and mediun enterprises. Earlier studies also found homestead forests derived NTFPs and fuelwood for household utilization and economy in southern and eastern Bangladesh (Mukul et al. 2014; Uddin and Mukul 2007). Homestead forests in Bangladesh, Benin, and Ethiopia (Abdula 2021; Gbedomon et al. 2017; Nath et al. 2015) and NTFPs in India, Benin, and Kenya (Heubes et al. 2012; Sumukwo et al. 2013; Talukdar et al. 2021) were found to provide safety against adverse impacts of climate change while enhancing an adaptation to climate change. Our study on homestead forest-based adaptation is in line with Tuihedur Rahman et al. (2018) who studied adaptation-based decision making and found farming and non-farming strategies in Bangladesh.

Forest Owners´ Perceptions towards Environmental Benefits of Homestead Forests and Socioeconomic Factors

Homestead forests were opined to provide environmental benefits such as conservation of moisture, soil, and mitigation of heat, and protection against disasters. Many of the households plant trees that would reduce landslides, increase carbon sink and hold more soil moisture for other vegetation and crops. Our results also corroborate with the findings of the studies in the same homestead forests (Baul et al. 2021a, b) where the authors found the potential contribution of forests in carbon storage and environmental values from diverse tree species. These environmental benefits would help farmers to fight climate change impacts and make them resilient to the prevailing situations. Integration of local strategies and scientific knowledge has been found as a key to promoting the adaptation of such vulnerable communities (Alexander et al. 2011; Green and Raygorodetsky 2010; Hiwasaki et al. 2014). However, the perceptions of the benefits of homestead forests were also affected by the socioeconomic background of the households. In our study, overall, up to 20% of owners disagreed with the benefits of soil conservation and protection from disasters; nevertheless, this disagreement may be varied due to the geographical location of their settlement. For instance, households in low hills were likely to be more affected by flood and landslide compared to the high altitude; therefore, some of the households in mid-hill agreed that homestead forests contributed to mitigating landslide or soil erosion and intensity of natural disasters including flood, strong wind. This disagreement was also in line with literacy, income, and housing type in the fact that households with maccha houses, low income, and low literacy disagreed with these benefits due to their much vulnerability to landslide and disasters, and they were mostly in the low hill. Socioeconomic factors such as education and financial condition of the farmers have been found as amongst the determinants in perceiving the impacts of adaptation to climate change in Nepal and South Africa (Hitayezu et al. 2017; Khanal et al. 2018). These changes in behavior on climate change perception are highly local social, cultural, and economic-specific (Patt and Schröter 2007).

Concluding Remarks and Policy Implications

We found that local perceptions were supported by the meteorological evidence about increasing annual temperatures and rainfall with an erratic pattern. Forest owners´ perceptions towards phenological change in trees and increase in food insecurity, landslide, pest infestation, drying up seasonal stream, and decrease in crop production, soil fertility, and moisture appeared as evidence of impacts of climate change. These perceptions of climate chnage impacts on biophysical factors and benefits people perceived varied with the hill altitudes and associated ecosystems, inhabitants, and the socioeconomic backgrounds of the households such as income, education, and housing types.

People in the hilly area perceived that homestead forests play a pivotal role in adaptation to climate change through supplying diverse products and services (multipurpose trees) which are contributing to food security, household utilization and economy, and environmental benefits including conserving moisture and soil and mitigating heat. These benefits of small-scale forests can be upscaled country-wise by incorporating local knowledge into formal science that could encourage preserving and expanding homestead forests not only in the hilly area and also in different parts under the action plans and policy. These types of studies could help policymakers assessing the need for monetary schemes and educational supports to conserve existing forests as Conservation reserve for at least 20 years that would also work as a carbon sink while providing other environmental benefits.

The national climate trust fund (Climate Change Trust Act 2010) could consider these small-scale forests and homesteads and provide them incentives to enhance and conserve more of these forests to reduce climate change impacts and enhance community adaptation. Realizing the importance of these forests in terms of economic and environmental benefits and carbon sink, REDD+ could also consider how these small forest holders can be accounted for in their mass programs as these small-scale forests are ignored in policy due to the lack of documentation. Our study findings can inform policymakers to take small-scale forest-based local climate adaptation strategies.