Is Interest in Community Forestry Stronger Than Ever?

Is community forestry on the wane? Some would argue that it is. However, we at RECOFTC strongly believe that in the Asia-Pacific, community forestry is just beginning to gain its true strength.

From a forestry perspective, the last decade ended with two big bangs, COP 15 in Copenhagen and the 13th World Forestry Congress (WFC) in Buenos Aires. Both events gave us all reason to pause and contemplate the global state of forestry. In a recently released reflection: World Forestry at the Crossroads: Going it Alone, or Joining with Others? Herman Savenije and Kees van Dijk did an excellent job of distilling the WFC's myriad discussions into10 key forestry themes and trends.

The authors touched upon many key issues, but in visiting community forestry they posed the following question: "What has happened to the interest in community forestry and social forestry?"

Somewhat provocatively they concluded:

"For many years now, participation by local populations in forest management in the form of community forestry and social forestry was strongly promoted as the way to sustainable forest management. Although that interest has not actually disappeared, it no longer has an important place in discussion."

Why such a negative conclusion? For those of us working to further community forestry, our optimism has never been higher. There is interest, and plenty of it!

So, exactly what discussions do the authors consider important? Whose interest do they mean? We acknowledge that the views of forest-dependent people, those with the greatest stake in the future of their local forests, are those least likely to be heard at international summits such as the WFC. That's why RECOFTC brought Voices from the Forest to a WFC side session in Argentina. This compelling series of short films certainly shows no lack of interest from the local foresters whose experience and views are so powerfully presented.

450 million forest-dependent people live in the Asia-Pacific region. Every day, local newspapers feature their stories and calls for help to recognize, realize and retain their rights to live in, use and manage forests. Interest is not declining. If anything, it has increased steeply, along with the forest area under their control.

Likewise, there is no shortage of interest from international organizations, NGOs, research institutes, conservation-focused bodies, and global coalitions. Have a look at the work of organizations such as IIED, WWF, IUCN, RRI, and CIFOR who continue to work actively on engaging local people in forest management.

The lack of interest cannot be from regional governments either as they work together to improve and expand community forestry through the recently established ASEAN Social Forestry Network. Many countries in Asia-Pacific have formulated and are implementing policies to support a variety of forms of community forestry on the ground. Nepal remains the prime example, where over 30 years of community forestry has restored the health of degraded forests. Today 33% of the population manages 1.25 million hectares, or 35% of Nepal's forest resources.

Recent examples also exist, and demonstrate the modern relevance of community forestry. The Cambodian Government's guidelines on community forestry or Prakas are only three years old, yet have already helped more than 280 communities bring over 220,000 hectares under community control.

In Vietnam, the Government's Forest Protection and Development Law of 2004 created Vietnam's first legal framework for community forest management. Just last year, a national community forestry pilot project was successfully completed, transferring 17,000 hectares of natural forests to community management.

And how about the private sector? Socially responsible forestry increasingly offers marketing advantages to the private sector, and we see their interest in purchasing wood, carbon and NTFP's from locally-owned cooperatives and individuals. They also have a stake in the promotion of community forestry, and often work closely with individual farmers to produce the raw materials that are in such high demand. Visit some provinces in eastern Thailand and central Vietnam and you will be amazed by the number of smallholder plantations dotting the landscape.

Finally, what about funding agencies? The authors may have been referring to fashions in the international aid agenda when they wondered "What led to community forestry giving way to climate, energy, and the legality of chains?" Although the donor community was the great champion of community forestry in the past, some might say they have since shifted their priorities to the climate change arena.

But has community forestry really "given way" to climate change? Not at all. In fact, the fates of both are now inexorably linked. In this most populous of regions, the engagement of forest-dependent people is vital for the success of REDD and other such mechanisms. Indeed, RECOFTC believes that local people hold the key to successful climate change mitigation and adaptation interventions.

Others recognize this also. Community forestry is central to the design of PACT-Cambodia's Oddar Meanchey REDD pilot project. The Kyoto – Think Global Act Local Project has proven the cost-effectiveness of mobilizing communities to collect accurate forestry data that will be needed for monitoring purposes for REDD.

Community forestry is rapidly gaining recognition in international fora as a key ingredient for successful climate change mitigation and adaptation measures. Dr Gro Harlem Brundtland even echoed this point during her opening plenary address at Forest Day 3: "Respecting rights and involving affected stakeholders is a moral and formal obligation, and is in fact also the ONLY WAY TO MAKE REDD+ WORK."

Elinor Ostrom, who only last year won the Nobel prize in economics, also spoke out against the dangers of a top-down approach to REDD: "Far more effective are approaches that gain the trust of forest communities, respect their rights, and involve them in forest use and monitoring, practices that are positively associated with maintenance of forest density."

Only one year ago, the critical contribution local people can make in reducing deforestation and degradation through their knowledge and skills in sustainable forest management was completely overlooked in the global REDD negotiations. Today, the picture is completely different.

So, to answer the authors' question from an Asia-Pacific perspective, the interest in community forestry is strong, healthy and continues to grow. Not only does it have an important place in the discussion, it is now a completely mainstream message.

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