Community Forestry and Development

Abstract

Forests and forestry were first seriously considered as a vehicle to reach development objectives in the 1970s, leading to the recognition of community forestry as a focal point for international development cooperation. The exact opportunities for cooperation, and how to realize them, have changed as international development thinking has evolved. In recent decades, traditional academic analyses of communal forestry and development practices have been complemented by trends that focus on specific aspects of forests and local people, including non-timber forest products, forest devolution, decentralization, and collaborative management. The perceived role of community forestry in development cooperation, as well as the type of assistance that is needed and provided, continues to evolve with changing international development agendas, priorities, and objectives.