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Forests deliver multiple benefits to people at scales from local to global. In many countries, forest governance is in transition. Civil society is increasingly reluctant to allow large forest industries to exploit forests for commodity products. This trend is leading to multiple initiatives to devolve control of forests to local communities and to respond to demands from indigenous peoples to assert control over their traditional forest lands. Community forest management and Small and Medium Forest Enterprises (SMFEs) are being advocated to deliver economic, social, and environmental benefits. Many attempts to devolve forest management are not delivering on their potential to improve local livelihoods and conserve forest resources. There are policy and legislative barriers to successful local governance of forests. Overcoming these barriers requires deep local understanding of forest landscapes and of the potential roles of SMFEs.
Focusing on community forest and SMFE governance in landscapes in Cameroon, Indonesia, and British Columbia, we aim to help local people, policy-makers and private enterprises better determine governance arrangements to deliver “vibrant forest landscapes”. Our research objective is to identify and understand pathways of change where internally or externally driven forest-based initiatives have resulted in improved agency, inclusiveness, and prosperity for the population living in the landscape, while maintaining or improving the potential of forest resources to deliver multiple benefits to society. We will explore local perceptions of success and the capacity for local forest enterprises to emerge and grow. We aim to influence policies and programs to “create space” for SMFEs to prosper in ways that meet a broad range of development and conservation objectives.
In British Columbia, we have partnered with the City of Quesnel Forestry Initiatives Program to explore opportunities and constraints for pathways towards innovation and resilience in the forest sector. For more information about our work, see here.
In Indonesia, we have long term partnerships with companies, universities, and landscape practitioners to learn, share, and support vibrant forest landscapes. Learn about our landscape retreats in Indonesia here.
Funding: Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada Insight Grant 2019-2023