Linking Social Businesses, Biodiversity Conservation, Carbon Sequestration, Sustainable Livelihoods, and Community-Managed Indigenous Forests in Zimbabwe

Abstract

In addition to their timber value, community-managed forests have many non-timber benefits.
There are efficient carbon sequesters that sustain higher biodiversity conservation when
compared to mono exotic forests. Harnessing community-managed native forests and social
businesses could also be an important channel for improving rural communities’ livelihoods. The
main purpose of this paper was to explain the linkages among social business, biodiversity
conservation, carbon sequestration, and sustainable livelihoods for communities that subsist on
mixed indigenous forests. A structured focus group was employed to collect qualitative data from
twenty-three participants who were selected using purposive sampling. Our findings demonstrate
that yoking social business with community-managed mixed indigenous forests could be a
remedy not only for reducing the impact of climate change on marginalised rural communities,
but also for reducing poverty and food insecurity. Social businesses are encouraged to provide
rural communities with advanced forest management skills to optimise carbon sequestration and
biodiversity conservation. Improving access to green financing instruments such as carbon
credits may assist marginalised rural communities in broadening their revenue streams, at the
same time enhancing livelihood resilience against climate change.