  The incorporation of trees on farms can help to improve livelihoods and build
resilience among small-holder farmers in developing countries. On-farm trees
can help gen- erate additional income from commercial tree harvest as well as
contribute significant environmental benefits and ecosystem services to
increase resiliency. Long-term benefits from tree-based livelihoods, however,
depend on sustainable timber harvesting. In this paper, we discuss the
potential for network analysis as a tool to inform conservation and development
decision-making. Specifically, we formulate the commercial tree market between
farmers and traders as a transportation problem and optimize the transactions.
We create a model of the commercial tree market in the Bilaspur district of
Himachal Pradesh, India based on a detailed dataset of market interactions
between farmers and timber traders, using the existing road network of this
region. Using this model, we perform a maximum-flow-minimum-cost optimization
for tree commodity flow. We compare the results of our optimized model with
actual flow within the network, and we find a high potential to increase
efficiency of market transactions within this region, noting a significant
reduction to the minimum- cost flow value for our optimized model compared to
the flow cost for actual transactions. We propose that using this network flow
optimization model to strategically distribute permits can reduce costs
associated with market transactions. Our results suggest that this direct
policy action would be beneficial to the region. Finally, we suggest that cost
savings could be used to establish tree planting programs to support a
long-term sustainable tree market. Shaping policies to address these market
inefficiencies in developing regions could help support and elevate tree-based
livelihoods for farmers, traders, and industries.
