community Forest

Community forestry has become a popular movement, challenging foresters to change their thinking. The message is simple: people are the key to success rather than the cause of failure.

"Community forestry has the following characteristics: the local community controls a clearly and legally defined area of forest; the local community is free from governmental and other outside pressure concerning the utilisation of that forest; if the forestry involves commercial sale of timber or other products, then the community is free from economic exploitation of markets or other pressure from outside forces; the community has long-term security of tenure over the forest and sees its future as being tied to the forest"

Forest communities are much more than just an assembly of trees. They are an extremely complex, interacting, and coordinated system. In fact you may have heard the word ecosystem. "Eco" refers to the environment, in this case a forest, and "system" refers to the numerous interacting units (e.g. trees, soil, insects, birds, and man). It is difficult to imagine a more complex designed system than a forest ecosystem.

"Successful community forestry requires... genuine popular participation in decision-making... Experience has proven time and again that participation is more than a development cliche; it is an absolute necessity if goals are to be met. But working with people rather than policing them is a new role for many foresters."

"Community forestry, social forestry and rural development forestry are more or less equivalent and reflect Abraham Lincoln's view of democracy - government of the people, by the people, for the people."

"The political dimension of community forestry makes it a venue for people's struggle against domination and exploitation of the community's resources by 'outsiders'. Ecology, equity and social justice are part of this struggle."