Community forestry
Community forestry is a participatory model of forestry that gained prominence in the 1970s in which local communities take an active role in forest management and land use decision making. Community forestry is defined by the Food and Agricultural Organization of the United Nations as "any situation that intimately involves local people in forestry activity". Unlike centralized management systems, community forestry more strongly emphasizes the participation and collaboration of local community stakeholders, along with government and non-governmental organizations. The level of involvement of each of these groups is dependent on the specific community forest project, the management system and the region.
Examples of community forestry have existed throughout history and exist today across South Asia, Africa, Latin America, and parts of Europe, often integrating traditional ecological knowledge with modern management. These initiatives are recognized for their contributions to climate resilience, forest regeneration, and socio-economic development. Many projects aim to protect community livelihoods, enhance resource access, reduce poverty, or promote sustainable land management, however, these initiatives can face many challenges in practice.
History
Community forestry is a branch of forestry that deals with the communal management of forests for generating income from timber and non-timber forest products on one hand, and managing for ecosystem services such as watershed conservation, carbon sequestration and aesthetic values on the other hand. It has been considered one of the most promising options of combining forest conservation with rural development, community empowerment and poverty reduction objectives.The concept of community forestry first came to prominence in the mid-1970s but is rooted in historical land management systems that prioritized collective stewardship. For example, in pre-colonial Africa, community-managed forests served as critical sources of food, medicine, and cultural heritage, governed through traditional norms and local leadership structures. Similarly, before enclosure or other land privatization efforts, European commons allowed communities to access forests for grazing, fuelwood, and construction materials under shared use. Around the world, colonial governance and widespread land privatization disrupted these practices by replacing communal systems with centralized or private control. In regions such as India, colonial forestry policies prioritized timber extraction and commercial gains, often displacing indigenous communities and undermining traditional knowledge. This widespread alienation of local populations from forest resources led to widespread degradation and social unrest, prompting calls for reform in Africa and other continents.
The re-emergence of community forestry in the 20th century was driven by growing recognition of the ecological and social failures of centralized forest policy efforts. Early movements, such as India’s Joint Forest Management in the 1970s and Nepal’s Forest User Groups in the 1980s, attempted to improve the management of forest resources and address environmental issues due to the countries failing centralized forest policy. These early efforts illustrated the potential of participatory governance to address resource depletion and empower marginalized communities. In 1978, FAO’s seminal work, Forestry for Local Community Development, laid the foundation for integrating scientific forestry with traditional practices in the modern period, arguing that empowering local communities not only conserved resources but also improved socio-economic outcomes. More recently, in the past few decades, community forestry has been implemented in developing countries and has been modestly successful in its aims of sustainable forest management, climate change adaptation, and securing socio-economic benefits for local communities.
However, a study by the Overseas Development Institute has shown that the technical, managerial and financial requirements stipulated by community forestry frameworks are often incompatible with local realities and interests. A successful legal and institutional framework must incorporate the strengthening of existing institutions and enable the dissemination of locally appropriate practices as well as the local capacity for regulation and control. In practice, successful models have combined adaptive management with community-driven initiatives. For example, Mexico’s community forest enterprises demonstrated that decentralized governance could generate substantial economic benefits while maintaining ecological integrity. Similarly, Nepal’s participatory forest management made progress in reducing poverty and restoring forest cover.
As of 2016, FAO estimated that almost one-third of the world's forest area is under some form of community-based management.
Principles and goals
Governance
Governance in community forestry emphasizes decentralization and participatory decision-making. Models such as Nepal’s Forest User Groups show how local empowerment can lead to improved conservation outcomes and equitable resource distribution. These groups operate democratically, with elected committees overseeing forest management, benefit-sharing, and conflict resolution.Other governance systems include co-management frameworks, as seen in Brazil’s Amazon. These systems involve partnerships between local communities, NGOs, and government agencies to balance conservation goals with socio-economic development. However, successful governance requires transparent processes, capacity-building, and mechanisms to address power imbalances between partners.
Land tenure
Land tenure is a fundamental aspect of community forestry, affecting whether communities have the rights and security to invest in sustainable practices. In Mozambique, community forestry laws have helped formalize tenure arrangements, enabling local groups to manage forests and participate in carbon trading markets. However, challenges such as unclear boundaries, elite capture, and weak enforcement persist in many land tenure systems, threatening the viability of community forestry projects and creating uncertainty in terms of resource access.The history of informal land tenure systems and land privatization must be addressed for community forestry projects to be successful. In Latin America, Mexico’s ejido system provides a notable example of how collective tenure arrangements can support long-term resource management and economic development. By granting legal recognition to community-managed lands, the system fosters stability and investment in sustainable forestry.