Forests for People

by Larson, Anne M.; Barry, Deborah; Dahal, Ganga Ram; Colfer, Carol J. Pierce

• ISBN13: 9781844079179
• ISBN10: 1844079171
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-04-30
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

Who has rights to forests and forest resources? In recent years governments in the South have transferred at least 200 million hectares of forests to communities living in and around them . This book assesses the experience of what appears to be a new international trend that has substantially increased the share of the world's forests under community administration. Based on research in over 30 communities in selected countries in Asia (India, Nepal, Philippines, Laos, Indonesia), Africa (Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Ghana) and Latin America (Bolivia, Brazil, Guatemala, Nicaragua), it examines the process and outcomes of granting new rights, assessing a variety of governance issues in implementation, access to forest products and markets and outcomes for people and forests . Forest tenure reforms have been highly varied, ranging from the titling of indigenous territories to the granting of small land areas for forest regeneration or the right to a share in timber revenues. While in many cases these rights have been significant, new statutory rights do not automatically result in rights in practice, and a variety of institutional weaknesses and policy distortions have limited the impacts of change. Through the comparison of selected cases, the chapters explore the nature of forest reform, the extent and meaning of rights transferred or recognized, and the role of authority and citizens' networks in forest governance. They also assess opportunities and obstacles associated with government regulations and markets for forest products and the effects across the cases on livelihoods, forest condition and equity.

Author Biography

Anne M. Larson is a Senior Associate with the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and is based in Managua, Nicaragua. Deborah Barry is the Director of Country Programs for the Rights and Resources Initiative, Washington, DC and Senior Associate at CIFOR. Ganga Ram Dahal, Nepalese citizen, is a Research Consultant at CIFOR, currently based in Bangkok, Thailand. Carol J. Pierce Colfer is a Senior Associate at CIFOR based in Etna, New york.

Table of Contents

List of Figures, Tables and Boxes	p. vii
Foreword	p. ix
Preface	p. xi
Acknowledgements	p. xiii
Introduction
Tenure Change in the Global South	p. 3
Forest Tenure Reform: An Orphan with Only Uncles	p. 19
The Transfer of Tenure Rights
The Devolution of Management Rights and the Co-Management of Community Forests	p. 43
From Discourse to Policy: The Practical Interface of Statutory and Customary Land and Forest Rights	p. 69
Governance Institutions: Authority Relations and Social Movements
Authority Relations under New Forest Tenure Arrangements	p. 93
Community Networks, Collective Action and Forest Management Benefits	p. 116
Regulations and Markets for Forest Products
Regulations as Barriers to Community Benefits in Tenure Reform	p. 139
Communities and Forest Markets: Assessing the Benefits from Diverse Forms of Engagement	p. 160
Outcomes and Conclusions
Outcomes of Reform for Livelihoods, Forest Condition and Equity	p. 183
Conclusions and Reflections for the Future of Forest Tenure Reform	p. 210
References	p. 224
Contributors	p. 246
List of Acronyms	p. 248
Index	p. 251
Table of Contents provided by Ingram. All Rights Reserved.