Analyzing forest users' destructive behavior in Northern Tunisia

An analysis of forest offense statistics in Northern Tunisia, where most of the country's woodlands are located, showed rising trends for all types of offenses, in addition to illegal hunting and clearing, between 1989 and 19 96. Major offenses included clearing, logging, and ploughing. while minor o ffenses were primarily unlawful stocking, hunting, and handling of forest p roducts. Users with the greatest destructive behavior belonged to the distr icts of Jendouba, Kasserine, Le Kef, and Bizerte, while the lowest offense frequency occurred in Tunis and its neighboring districts. The ratio of for est offenses per capita was positively correlated with ruralism and the pro portion of forest cover in the region's districts. However. forest availabi lity and its implied open-access policy were overriding in promoting users' destructive behavior. The positive correlation between forest offenses and eroded soils also demonstrated the detrimental impact of open-access on th e sustainability of forest resources. (C) 2001 Elsevier Science Ltd. All ri ghts reserved.