Community forest management
Legal rights to manage, use and earn from forests go to organised local communities, which then protect them better than many parks do.
Cultural knowledge · whose it is
Nepal formalised community forest user groups from the late 1970s to the 1990s. Guatemala granted the Petén concessions between 1994 and 2002, mostly to migrant communities plus older settlements such as Carmelita and Uaxactún. Mexico's community forest enterprises grew from communal land rights after the 1980s; many Mexican ejidos and comunidades are Indigenous, including Maya communities in Quintana Roo (not yet confirmed from a source). Use only their publicly shared governance experience, and ask custodians before drafting anything about traditional forest knowledge.
This practice is held by its custodians. Learn from them, ask before you use it, and follow their lead on how it's shared.
Start small
Bring 10 to 20 forest-using households together for 2 to 3 months to map the forest boundary, agree simple use rules and a fair benefit share, and register as a user group or association. Start-up cost is low (meetings, mapping, a few hundred US dollars), but you need a forestry office or NGO partner to secure legal recognition.
The problem
Global warming above 1.5 degrees. Tropical deforestation releases large amounts of carbon, and top-down protected areas often fail to stop clearing where people live and depend on forests.
Where it fits
Thrived where communities received secure, long-term legal rights (user groups, concessions, communal ejido title) with clear boundaries and the right to sell timber and forest products. Needs a working group institution, technical forestry support, market access, and state backing against invaders and illegal logging.
The principle underneath
People protect what they securely own and earn from. Clear, enforceable group rights plus a lasting income stream turn the forest from an open-access resource into a shared asset worth defending.
Who to call
FECOFUN (Federation of Community Forestry Users Nepal); ACOFOP (Asociación de Comunidades Forestales de Petén); CCMSS (Consejo Civil Mexicano para la Silvicultura Sostenible); Rights and Resources Initiative; Wildlife Conservation Society Guatemala.
Watch out for
Elite capture of committees and revenue. Rules that exclude landless, Dalit or migrant members. Short or insecure tenure that invites over-harvesting. Weak business management. Governments rolling back rights, or imposing megaprojects without consultation.
Where it's worked
Nepal (18,000+ community forest user groups) · 2000 to 2012
Community forest management cut deforestation by 37% and poverty by 4.3% in relative terms, across 1.36 million census households.
Peer reviewedSource
Maya Biosphere Reserve, Petén, Guatemala · 1994 to 2009
About 440,648 ha granted to 12 community organisations; deforestation averaged 0.45% a year against 1.5% in protected areas and 2.08% across Petén.
DocumentedSource
Maya Biosphere Reserve, Guatemala (FSC-certified concessions) · 2000 to 2013
Deforestation close to zero in active FSC-certified concessions covering about a quarter of the 2.1 million ha reserve.
DocumentedSource
Quintana Roo and the Maya Forest, Mexico · 1992 to ~2008
Community forests lost 0.163% a year against 0.327% in protected areas; Quintana Roo ejidos lost 0.024% a year against 0.043% in Calakmul Biosphere Reserve.
DocumentedSource
Where it failed
In Petén, Guatemala, 3 of 14 concessions (San Miguel La Palotada, La Pasadita, La Colorada) were cancelled for breaking their contracts: over-cutting, poor finances, and land invasions or deforestation. The weakest 4 concessions lost 1.54% of forest a year, against 0.0089% for the strongest 10. In Nepal, many user groups are led by elites, and landless ultra-poor households are left out by landholding rules for membership. In Mexico, communities report heavy regulation, scarce capital and weak consultation rights, and many have stopped logging because of internal problems.
Related Fruit
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