This article is a guest blog by Thuan Sarzynski, a member of the International Forestry Students’ Association (IFSA). Thuan also conducted interviews with participants at the event. To read these interviews, please visit his Medium site!

RECOFTC – The Center for People and Forest was created in 1987 with the will to “improve the policies, institutions and practices of community forestry” in Southeast Asia. Such a will is shown through its staff. Rejani Kunjappan, who has been working as a trainer with RECOFTC for six years, wakes up every morning with the motivation to “give a voice to everybody and empower women and the youth,” as she told me recently. With a team of ten people, she designs courses, writes manuals and delivers trainings to promote a more inclusive vision of land management by reducing power asymmetries.

On the 18th of August, RECOFTC organized a forum at the Suan Plern market. This open setting gave the opportunity to people passing by to listen and learn more about community-based forest management. Community-based forest management, also  referred to as Community Forestry or Social Forestry, is an approach to forest management that allows for local communities and smallholders to be a part of the decision making process about forest land management and its resources. Communities and stakeholders from Viet Nam, Thailand, Myanmar and other Southeast Asian countries were represented at this forum to exchange their experiences and present some of the forest-based products they made.

Copyright @ RECOFTC

In Thailand, RECOFTC cooperates with the Royal Forest Department to support forested communities obtain formal status. Khao Aypod, a senior forestry officer, explained to us the administrative process a forest community has to go through: “the community has to express what they want to do with the forest and elect a committee. After that, the community has to show that they have the skills to care the forest. All this process takes more than one year. A community gets a contract to use the forest for 10 years, then they have to renew it.”

Once they receive this formal status, the community can then get substantial financial support from the government to develop their business.

The V-Wan CFE organization from the province of Ratchaburi in Thailand has developed a community to manage a bamboo forest and sustainably utilize its wood. About 60 households are generating an income based on this business. They sustainably manage an area of 80 ha by cutting and replanting bamboo trees. The main bamboo species they are using is Dendrocalamus membranaceus, a species that grows fast and is ready to be harvested after only two years. The community makes bamboo mats and processes the bamboo waste into a wood pulp. This process allows them to make different items such as plates, frames and recipients. The goal of the organization is to engage new farmers and especially young people into the local bamboo business.

“Youth who can’t go to study at the city and stay in the rural area can learn how to grow and process bamboo” said Pathawee Suksawat, a representative of the organization at the forum.

The organization also trains farmers to better manage the forests by planting 2000 bamboo trees every year on the harvested areas. The community learns how to take care of the seedlings and propagate bamboo trees. They also learn how to use the processing machines funded by the government to help them start their business.

The main challenge for this community is selling their products. They mainly sell at events and at their shop in Bangkok. Most of their customers are foreigners living in Bangkok. The lack of demand for sustainable products exists for many other organisations making forest-based products. Aroma Forest Hung Rung, an organization from the north of Viet Nam makes traditional medicines and cosmetics with wild forest plants. The project was funded by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) and enabled people to buy the necessary machinery to make all the products. The future goal of these organizations is to find customers to buy their products, because if there is no buyers then farmers will not be able to continue producing sustainable products from the forests. Instead, they would probably move to the city to find a better job or deforest the land to cultivate crops.

To make their projects viable, these communities really need support and training to access markets and export their products abroad, which is where demand for sustainble goods is higher.

If you want to participate in or learn more about a system where rural communities are able to live on the sustainable management of their own natural resources, you may contact RECOFTC  at http://www.recoftc.org.

Copyright @ RECOFTC

Written by Thuan Sarzynski

By Thuy Dang, Etienne Delattre and Sophie Lewis

Once again it has become clear that for any positive change to occur regarding healthy forests, regular and genuine dialogue is needed amongst stakeholders. This became even clearer while reflecting on the People and Forests Forum that took place last week. Genuine dialogue, however, is a complicated phrase, meaning that an open and safe space must be provided that allows participants to get well informed facts, debate ideas, confront opinions, craft new initiatives, and plan innovative actions. In this respect, it was heartening to witness the young generation taking a stand at the Forum: here a group of young self-entrepreneurs promoting their new eco-friendly forest products, there a young student taking the lead in facilitating discussions on responsible practices for better governance.

As The Nation, a Thailand based newspaper, noted in a recent article about the Forum, the people hold the power to urge governments to incorporate the principles of good forest governance into their policies and practices. Without the “people,” we cannot ensure the health of our forests and the communities that depend on them.

The European Union-funded Voices for Mekong Forests (V4MF) Project understands the importance of including the collective “us” in bringing about change. Prior to the Forum, partners and representatives of V4MF attended the CSO Forum on Social Forestry in ASEAN in Da Nang (Viet Nam), alongside a cohort of 50 civil society organizations (CSOs) working on forest governance issues. Soon after, they took part in the ASEAN Timber Legality Assurance Workshop in Chiang Mai (Thailand) alongside other peers and representatives from the private sector and government ministries. In each of these events, partners gained valuable insights on best practices in the region and were provided the opportunity to reaffirm the crucial role that CSOs play in supporting, strengthening and monitoring forest governance systems on behalf of ”us”. Their active contribution in these events reflected the impact that genuine dialogue has towards more transparency, accountability, fairness and inclusiveness in forest governance systems.

This is not a new realization, of course. For decades, CSOs throughout the Mekong region have played a key role in supporting and advocating for the rights of forest-dependent peoples and improved forest governance. They may work on a myriad of issues at the same time, such as on forest and climate change, forest conservation and restoration, small and micro enterprises development, empowering women and indigenous people, among many others, and at their appropriate scale: in one community, district or province, or at the top ministerial level. Yet oftentimes in this region, they have to operate in challenging circumstances. In some countries, CSOs are still able to function relatively independently and dare to openly criticize governmental wrongdoings that affect the status and health of our forests and communities; in other countries however, they must operate in a delicate environment with a more limited scope for voicing and advocating for the rights of the forest people, at times even at great risk.

There are avenues that allow CSOs to express their views on forest governance through genuine multi- stakeholder dialogues; one is through the negotiations surrounding the Voluntary Partnership Agreement (VPA), which is part of the Forest Law Enforcement, Governance and Trade (FLEGT) initiative. The FLEGT-VPA is a bilateral trade agreement between a country and the (EU) that aims to reduce illegal logging by ensuring that all agreed upon timber and timber products in the VPA annexes are legally verified throughout their supply chain and certified accordingly for export to the EU market. Throughout the negotiations process between the EU and governmental authorities, a strong CSO network may ensure that any related policy or practice does not adversely impact forest communities and forest smallholders. In addition, it creates an opportunity for CSOs to advocate within a state-sponsored forum for the need of continued good governance and land and resource rights for forest people.

The V4MF project stands by their side in this process, seeking to equip them with the best knowledge, skills and tools to voice informed opinions and game-changing contributions. To that effect, it recently supported a forest governance assessment in the five Mekong countries that was led and conducted by the CSO partners themselves. Six policy briefs resulted from it that portray their views on the status and performance of forest governance principles in the region. The study found that in each of the countries, issues of poor forest governance continue to persist. Such findings are supported by several other recent publications and were apparent during a lively debate during the recent ASEAN FLEGT event in Chiang Mai.

These events only reemphasize the constant need for strong CSO networks throughout the region if we are to ensure that an independent monitoring of forest governance ultimately takes place in each country as part of the implementation phase of the FLEGT process. In preparation for that, the partners of the V4MF Project continue to advance their good work, amplify people’s voices and strategically target key working groups and networks to address the remaining issues and gaps in forest governance. In so doing, we continue to propose constructive and contributing actions because ultimately, good governance is absolutely key!

By Dr. David Gritten, Senior Program Officer | RECOFTC – The Center for People and Forests

My grandparents in Scotland would often give me a concerning look and ask me the same two questions when I would visit: 1. Where was I working? and 2. What work do I do?

After seven years, I can once and for all answer their questions! Recently, RECOFTC published a series of policy briefs under the EU funded Voices for Mekong Forests (V4MF) project, which gives me the perfect opportunity to put these questions to rest!

Question 1: Where do I work?

Simply put, I work at RECOFTC – The Center for People and Forests. Our goal? To support rural communities in the Asia-Pacific region to manage their forests. This is based on the understanding that local communities know the forests the best, depend on the forest the most, have proven to be the most effective managers and have rights to their forests.

This sees us working with government and non-government organisations to ensure firstly that the laws are in place to support these communities and that the communities themselves, as well as staff from government and non-government organisations, have the capacities to make sure the rural communities can benefit from their forest landscapes, today and for future generations.

Now on to Question 2: What work do I do?

One of the key areas of my work is under the V4MF project, working on creating a supportive legal environment, but also working to strengthen governance.

I suppose the best way to explain it is to imagine a family in, for example, Myanmar that are trying to make a living, like their parents and their grandparents, from their land, including forests.

Where there is good governance, they will have clear ownership of their land, they will know what they are allowed by law to do regarding collecting non timber forest products such as mushrooms and branches for their cooking stove, as well as cutting down trees and selling them. By having this clarity they will invest time and money in their land and they will also protect it. With the right resources they can potentially make a good living from their land.

Now consider if governance was weak. If they didn’t have a piece of paper clearly stating they owned the land, imagine if they have heard of other families in the area losing their land to companies, consider the possibility that due to this uncertainty they are unwilling to invest in their land. The likelihood of them making a decent living from their land is very limited.

The table below provides a summary of how components of good governance can impact community forestry.

As part of my work at RECOFTC we have been assessing the state of forest governance in the Greater Mekong Subregion – namely Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam. Working with project partners we have been asking staff from government and non-government organisations of their perception of forest governance in the region and getting their ideas of how to address the challenges and opportunities identified. This has allowed us to develop a program to support the creation of a stronger legal foundation, including for supporting community forestry, and develop the skills and knowledge of key actors, including staff from government and non-government organisations so that we are all working towards improving forest governance in the region.

The English language versions of the briefs can be found here.

Jeffrey Williamson | RECOFTC – The Center for People and Forests 

“If survival is an art, then mangroves are artists of the beautiful,” wrote Annie Dillard while ruminating on what mangrove trees can teach us about human’s fleeting search for meaning. For Dillard it was “[N]ot only that they exist at all – smooth-barked, glossy-leaved, thickets of lapped mystery,” but also that this existence is a home, a cohort of dependent living organisms where “they can and do exist as floating islands, as trees upright and loose, alive and homeless on the water.” These thoughts settled in the back of my head as I watched my colleagues from RECOFTC – The Center for People and Forests move through the thick, life-sustaining mud of the “Mangrove Natural School” in Bang Bor Lang Village, Samut Songkham Province, Thailand as part of RECOFTC’s annual team-building exercise.

Yet Dillard, despite her poetic beauty, overlooked an aspect that local communities understand so thoroughly: the tangible benefits that mangroves have on sustaining livelihoods, protecting communities from natural disasters, mitigating climate change, and securing biodiversity in ecologically vital areas. Sure, it is true that mangroves can provide a relief from existential dread, but at the same time they provide more substantial relief through their impact on everyday life.  

According to the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR), Mangroves in Indonesia store more than five times the carbon of upland forests. The result is massive for climate change mitigation at the global and regional level. On a more localized level, however, mangroves have complex root systems that provide suitable conditions for a vast array of fish and other organism. These ecosystems thus provide a sustainable and healthy means of livelihood production through several food products, “including honey, algae, fruit, salt, and leaves for livestock,” according to the Global Mangrove Alliance. But in Thailand, and throughout the Asia – Pacific, these mangroves have acted as life-affirming agents as well, providing protection from increasingly deadly natural disasters. As Visoot Nuamsiri, the former village chief Bang Bor Lang, described during our visit, several communities survived the tsunami in 2004 because they lived behind mangrove forests that helped lessen the storm’s brutal impacts.

Yet, unfortunately, the rising temperatures are creating visible effects, a point repeatedly stressed by the community members. The Asia – Pacific is already losing mangroves at twice the rate of other regions, with 250,000 ha lost between 2000 and 2012. And in this particular community, the statistics would make any expert, local or international, nervous if it wasn’t for the presence of the community members. Without their support and monitoring, only one mangrove seedling would survive for every 300 planted.

Nonetheless, the communities have found innovative ways to persist, including the use of bamboo fences to reduce the strong energy of the waves and trap sediments, as well as the creation of an intricate monitoring policy.  As previously mentioned, through the dedicated work of community members, the results have improved. Bounyadeth Phouangmala, country program director for Lao PDR, reflected on this during a debriefing. “We learned from the communities. They are smart and do great work, often times with better ideas than us.” 

And in this reflection lies the point of pursuing team building activities in the field. Although the majority of RECOFTC’s staff work alongside local communities, there are, as Jonas Dahlstrom noted, a few “of us [who] are based in offices, and we can’t experience forests through our laptops.” This, reiterates the importance of connecting the reality on the ground with the work conducted in the office.  It allows certain staff members to learn through doing, practice what we preach, and question our own assumptions. As Dy Vutheara from Cambodia Country Program said, “It is important to practice the theory, because it really showed [us] the way we plant mangroves,” and reinforced the labor intensive practices that often go into conservation and livelihood production. By engaging with the local communities and participating in the technical planting of mangroves and the collection of trash, we were able to realize the deep connection found between the interlocked branches of the mangroves.

But how did we seek to achieve such lofty goals?

Transferring the experience to the staff  began with a detailed presentation by Visoot Nuamsiri and other community members who described the importance of mangroves to the local community. This conversation was then put into competitive practice. Each team, of which there were six, split up their members to pursue two goals: plant fifty mangrove seedlings and pick up as much trash as possible. 

Additionally, each team had to be cognizant of their communication abilities and team spirit while completing each task. Yet, this came with its fair share of challenges. Nonette, an intern from Indonesia Country Program, understood this and was able to overcome these challenges through the use of a “universal language,” such as body language and smiles, to navigate the language barrier between team members and the community. The pictures that were captured clearly showed the reciprocal joy generated through these common understandings.

Overall the team building plan worked. Being knee deep in the mud, contributing to the continued growth of these prehistoric ecosystems, blurred our competitive nature; the positive effects of mangroves reverberated throughout the day. Instead of being members of specific countries or members of specific units, we came closer while working alongside the community members, reinforcing our vision and mission through participatory action.

As one member of the red team succinctly stated, the results were humbling: “It isn’t only about one color, we had to work across teams.” Continuing to stress the theme of the day, he then summed up our activities with the follow slogan:

“Teamwork makes the dream work.”

Using Forest Landscape Restoration to Strengthen Private Sector – Community Partnerships and Create Lasting Ecological Stability

By Dr. Chandra Silori and Martin Greijmans

Contrary to what is often discussed on the surface, forest landscape restoration (FLR) is not simply about planting trees. And although global deforestation and forest degradation is a disturbing trend, capturing pessimistic thoughts in the form of doom-filled media titles, there are those who recognize our collective ability to address environmental, social and ecological challenges. That is why FLR has gained such traction; and this is why the forest community needs to provide insight on the additional benefits FLR provides us all, outside of simply planting trees. Let’s explore this more.

Firstly, it is important to note that there are certain global commitments that reflect a desire to address land and forest degradation:

FLR is in an integral position to assist in the realization of these global commitments and is promoted widely as one of the key solutions to restoring and increasing forest cover. The benefit of FLR, however, lies in its holistic approach to landscape management, thus creating holistic impacts. Not only does it address the challenges of climate change mitigation and adaptation, but it does so while also supporting forest dependent communities’ and indigenous peoples’ livelihoods and water security.  This reinforces and strengthens sound management practices while simultaneously engaging in soil conservation and protection.

So, as previously stated, FLR goes way  beyond simply planting trees:FLR is a dynamic and ongoing process that in its fullest sense restores the ecological functionality of the landscape, enhances the landscapes productivity and biodiversity, and consequently supports ecosystem services and promotes a system of multiple co-benefits. FLR accomplishes this by considering land management as a dialogue that includes a wide range of stakeholders who all have a direct interest in restoring functionality.

However, despite this diverse range of potential functionality, the focus of FLR has largely remained on the narrow and technical aspects of restoration. Other associated aspects, such as governance, participation of practitioners and other key stakeholders, the use of traditional knowledge by local communities and indigenous peoples, tenure security and associated challenges are yet to be fully understood. Therefore, when not considering and integrating these aspects sufficiently, the promises FLR holds may not be achieved.

Understanding the potential impact, RECOFTC – The Center for People and Forests has taken a number of steps to mainstream FLR into its programmatic approach by considering all of FLR’s associated aspects. Besides organizing regional consultations that involved private sector actors in discussing FLR finance approaches in the ASEAN region, RECOFTC has also developed capacity support for an integrated FLR approach. RECOFTC realizes, however, that this is not enough and has recently sought out more effective means of implementing FLR. This is why the Center is about to initiate the ‘Production-Driven Forest Landscape Restoration through private sector-community partnership’, funded by the Federal Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation, and Nuclear Energy (BMU) of Germany, under the International Climate Initiative (IKI). The project will run for four years (May 2018-April 2022).

The overall goal of the project is to “Enhance climate change mitigation and adaptation potential of forests in Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) countries through innovative and production-driven forest landscape restoration (FLR)”. The initiative, also termed as FLOURISH will address tenure rights and governance issues when striving for FLR. In so doing, the project will result in enhanced climate change mitigation, adaptation and biodiversity conservation in in selected forested landscapes in Lao PDR, Thailand and Viet Nam. FLOURISH is strategically aligned with national priorities and plans of the project focal countries, which will allow FLOURISH to continuously  build on the experiences in the forest landscapes and stimulate for cross learning throughout all integrated actors in the GMS.

In one of its pilots, which aims to mitigate the impacts of climate change, FLOURISH is considering to support processes aimed at replacing conventional cooking fuel (LPG and fossil fuel) with forest biomass-based pellets. This replacement strategy aims to increase carbon storage through permanent tree cover through the strengthening of bamboo and wood products value chains,providing the incentives for sustainably managing forests. In terms of climate change adaptation, FLOURISH seeks to reduce forest fires by engaging local landscape communities in increasing their efficiency in the harvesting and commercialization of timber and non-timber forest products through community-private sector partnerships. Biodiversity conservation will FLOURISH as well  by applying the FLR-approach, aimed at ensuring habitat contiguity of critical conservation areas in the three landscapes.

Overall, what stands out in FLOURISH is that its success will come from sustained community-private sector partnerships, while simultaneously addressing climate change, biodiversity and livelihoods interests.

FLOURISH is managed by RECOFTC with support from the following implementing partners: the International Network of Bamboo and Rattan (INBAR) based in Beijing, the Institute of International Forestry and Forest Products of Technische University Dresden (TUD) and Nan Community College (NCC) based in Thailand.

Dr. Maung Maung Than |Country Director, Myanmar Country Program

When I was studying English I learnt numerous idioms – many of which still make no sense to me (e.g. it is raining cats and dogs). One that I understood and is constantly stuck in my mind is “never to leave a job half done”. This phrase has been rolling around my head for the last few weeks as I think of the recently completed SUComFor project here in Myanmar.

RECOFTC – The Center for People and Forests, working with the Forest Department and various civil society partners, has recently finished the Scaling-up Community Forestry in Myanmar (SUComFor) project. The three year project, which was funded by the Royal Norwegian Embassy in Myanmar, has been a notable success on many levels.

The project has facilitated the transferring of 19,000 hectares of forests to 94 villages across seven different landscapes in the country. This means that 5,229 households now hold a certificate that symbolizes their tenure over the forest. Additionally, another nine villages are soon to receive their certificates.

One key component of the project has been strengthening the laws to make them more supportive to those with tenure to their forests. One example is the Community Forestry Instruction (1995). An important focus area of the original 1995 version of the Instruction was on community forest members meeting their daily subsistence needs. There was very little consideration for livelihood development. The revised 2016 version of the Instruction, however, created a legal foundation to ensure that community forestry members can commercially benefit from their forests. This includes supporting the establishment of community forest based enterprises producing value added products.

Another important area of the project has been increasing the confidence and strengthening the abilities of national and local government, civil society staff, and local community members to work together to address the challenges and opportunities they face for developing and benefiting from their community forests. In total over 5,000 people (most of them community members) have participated in trainings and other learning events under the project.

All the RECOFTC Myanmar country office and project staff have seen the incredible changes resulting from the project, yet I still have the feeling that the job is only half done. I suppose this is because of a comment made by one Secretary of a Community Forestry Management Committee. Talking about the new Community Forest User Group for which he is Secretary, he told me that he believes they “will raise living standards in the future now that [they] have management and production rights.” The future is rightly emphasized; we have much more to do.

We have built some excellent foundations for ensuring strong community forestry in Myanmar. Now we must ensure that the individual families, communities and the country as a whole can benefit, particularly by using these foundations to ensure that local communities can make a real and lasting living from their forest. This will be achieved by using the legal basis provided by the revised Instruction, the lessons learned from increased capacities, and the fact that more households have legal rights to use their forests. If we build upon these, then we have the potential to move from a job half done to a time when all stakeholders are declaring community forestry in Myanmar as a roaring success!

By Monica S. Cheng and Binod Chapagain

RECOFTC – The Center for People and Forests

Heraclitus once theorized that change is the only constant, formulating an apt description of our world tingling with change and adaptation. Yet change is not always intentional – it is often born out of necessity and perceived need. RECOFTC – The Center for People and Forests had an introduction to participatory monitoring tools that snuggled into a similar pattern. The discussion started with RECOFTC  piloting a Community Based Forestry (CBF) Assessment Framework in Myanmar in collaboration with the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). And at the conclusion, several government officials in Myanmar had shared their comments about Community Forests and its benefits via our workshops and training sessions.

Through the culmination of comments shared with RECOFTC’s Participatory Monitoring & Evaluation Team (PM&E), an intriguing story emerged, especially while talking to one of the government officials from Myanmar. When the Chief of Forestry Department (FD) asked his officials to give him information about particular CF groups, neither the CF groups nor FD officials had any documented information. Therefore, the FD officials began painting in the dark, producing documents from their guesses and approximations and sending them to their Chief. The same year, the head made a visit to some field sites, including some CF sites which he had seen those exact reports on. However, he told us that he encountered many surprises during the visit – the information he had was either incorrect or misleading!

CF group members participating in ‘citizen’s monitoring in forestry’ process

The same reflection was there when we  met government officials in Cambodia, particularly in Kamphong Thom. Local CF leaders were required to provide CF reports to government systems, but did not always know what or how to save information and thus provided incorrect information.

So of course, we had to see what was happening. When we visited Ayerwaddy Delta (Myanmar) and Kamphong Thom, we soon got our answer. The local CF leaders had organized meetings with group leaders, where we were informed that they did not have the ability to efficiently manage their information. Even more so, it is terribly difficult to organize and collect data for many members. Therefore, sending their annual reports to the Forest Administration or Department was often not a priority, but rather a burden.

A senior government official in Myanmar giving her reflection over the usefulness of the tools at a reflection workshop

The wearied, disorderly and listless feedback from both the government representatives and CF leaders were the triggers to start the concept of citizen’s monitoring. We wanted to find a way to measure Heraclitus’ beloved change in our contemporary world and landscapes. The feedback helped the RECOFTC PM&E team to build citizen’s monitoring foundations, bringing elements from CBF Assessment framework  and livelihoods framework. The eventual result was a toolbox designed for citizen’s monitoring in forestry. After months of collaborative effort, the tools were piloted, adjusted and synthesized to fit into an open-access product; you can find out more here.

Members of the Ou Som CF, Cambodia

By Lina Jihadah – RECOFTC , Sararin Phaengam – RECOFTC 

How can we ensure that a participatory process is effectively implemented to engage local people and create sustainable investments for financing Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR)? We know that it will potentially achieve the long term ecological, social and economic benefits that FLR offers, but we still haven’t found a way! To further unpack this puzzle, RECOFTC, along with FAO and IUCN, organised a regional dialogue for stakeholders. The event aimed to provide a platform for the participants to get to know each other, discuss challenges, and contemplate opportunities for financing FLR. Having this event therefore allowed stakeholders to better understand their roles in terms of FLR and come closer to ensuring a participatory process in investing in FLR!   

Regional FLR Finance Dialogue brought in FLR stakeholders in the region to discuss finance opportunities. Photo: RECOFTC

The questions discussed were relevant to achieving our goal. For example, what’s the most important thing for a sustainable investment by private sector? We would argue that it is about reducing potential risks that arise from the prominent issue in natural resource management – land tenure. This means a participatory approach that engages key stakeholders, especially local people, is fundamental.

For government officials involved in FLR, providing consistent landscape information and creating a supportive regulatory environment is imperative for a sustainable investment. Most importantly, these two principles should be respected and confirmed by all the stakeholders involved in FLR, especially local people. If care is taken to ensure the participation of local people, then this may led to a higher return of investment, particularly in areas where land tenure is concerned. As such, investors need to be assured that their investment does not impinge on unresolved land issues or further conflict over tenure rights. Hence, such information and a supportive regulatory environment will allow the private sector to assess the scale of FLR opportunities in the region and the potential socio-economic benefits (e.g. returns of investment).

FLR, through integrated land use management, has the ability to achieve long term benefits. Photo: RECOFTC

Furthermore, in forging partnerships with private sector actors, government officials would need to target specific, and appropriate, financial instruments. This is primarily because private sector actors do not conduct business using the same model.  For instance, plantation companies (e.g. New Forests), commercial banks (e.g. Credit Suisse) and finance institute (e.g. International Finance Corporation) all have different objectives and requirements. Hence, government officials need to consider aspects such as the purpose of FLR (e.g. wood production, local livelihood development through agroforestry), duration of the project and amount of investment required.

Participants discuss potential avenues of financing FLR. Photo: RECOFTC

Regarding the first question, this regional dialogue has provided us at RECOFTC a chance to better understand the areas that need to be improved to further promote sustainable financing of FLR. For example, this dialogue showed us that further conversation is needed between sectors to overcome the language barrier that is inherently present across sectors. Yet we  were able to help government officials realize the importance of collecting specific and reliable information to reduce risk. This goes a long way in targeting the appropriate financial instruments for FLR initiatives. Most importantly, however, the design of FLR initiatives must consider benefits that local communities can receive.

Nonetheless, there was one conclusion that was prominent: moving forward, financing FLR will likely be successful if government officials are able to cater interests of various stakeholders, especially local people whose role is central in FLR. Or, in other words, participation is key to finding sustainable financing options for future FLR initiatives.

For more about RECOFTC and FLR, please view our webpage!

The authors of this blog would like to convey gratitude to our PACT colleagues, Christy Owen and Yohann Formont, for their valuable inputs and reflections of the event and blog.  

David Ganz, Executive Director | RECOFTC – The Center for People and Forests

Earlier this week, I was fortunate to participate in the opening of the 5^th Annual Student Debate on forests and sustainable cities hosted by RECOFTC – The Center for People and Forest, and our colleagues from FAO and UNEP. This event, which included eight schools –ranging from middle school to University—in Bangkok, Thailand, has been used as a fun and engaging celebration of the International Day of Forests for the past five years. Following this year’s theme, I spoke of my work as a community forester on an urban New Haven Ecology Project now called the Common Ground School.  My intent with these opening remarks was to establish a personal connection between urban forestry and sustainable cities, hoping the students could as well. This in turn helped contextualize my final insights, which sought to provide advice about the profession and the potential that these young talented students have in contributing towards the diverse field of forestry. As the Executive Director of RECOFTC, and thus a potential future employer, I hope they explore the field further and provide a fresh perspective.

Providing the opening remarks at this year’s International Day of Forests Student Debate

I listened intently while the students had a spirited debate on the pros and cons of using urban forests for mitigating climate change, including its contributions to a healthier life-style. These debates reminded me of the difficulties within our region for proper urban planning, especially as urban sprawl absorbs future human populations.  I was also reminded of a few field seasons during my early career measuring trees in Sacramento, California. This information was subsequently used to maintain an urban tree database and contain Dutch Elm disease from spreading. This anecdote reminds me that Urban forestry around the world shares the challenge of maintaining viable tree health in what can be a very stressful environment for trees to flourish.

Students were eager to participate in the debate

These environments will become even more stressful in the upcoming decades due to the fact that our cities and suburban areas are the places that will absorb future human populations more than any other landscape. Regarding how to manage a landscape in a sustainable manner, these population increases present both opportunities and challenges for urban centers. Opportunities exist because cities have the critical mass to support the infrastructure improvements necessary to reduce carbon and ecological footprints, create social cohesiveness and foster economic growth. The challenge, however, is how to transform urban buildings and infrastructure so that they are consistent with sustainability goals, do not significantly disrupt the regional economy, and maintain the community’s fabric and integrity of urban open spaces.

RECOFTC sees these challenges as being similar to what community foresters and Forestry Departments face when involving stakeholders from all affected land-use sectors and applying participatory decision-making processes to strengthen rural livelihoods and ensure healthier forest landscapes. Similarly, urban architects and land-use planners must take into consideration a wide variety of disciplines when considering what species to plant, where to aggregate trees to form contiguous canopies and what risks to attempt to mitigate when creating open space (including transportation corridors, public safety, and appropriate water drainage).  All of these issues and more were debated by the students during their debating stances for and against the planting of more urban trees.

As the Executive Director of RECOFTC, we are also debating what our role should be towards advancing urban forestry within the Asia and the Pacific region. This includes where and how participatory approaches can improve co-management models in urban settings.  Community forestry includes a variety of institutional arrangements such as: indigenous management of sacred sites that are cultural important; direct community control or management of forest areas; small-scale forest-based enterprises; forest out-grower schemes; company-community partnerships; and other forms of decentralized and devolved forest management. All of these co-management models can provide valuable lessons learned for better urban planning and collaboration in what can sometimes be a hectic and stressful living environment.  By supporting and assisting government, non-government, and community partners, RECOFTC has shown that community forestry and related approaches can deliver results that both improve livelihoods and safeguard the environment, especially in urban arenas where safeguarding the environment and urban forests can increase awareness of what is happening in rural areas.

Student’s discuss their final arguments at the debate

We were all winners at this years debate!

As I sat there at the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization’s (FAO) regional office for Asia and the Pacific listening to the student debate, it occurred to me that I had heard these same arguments under many different socio-economic contexts. I had heard them when discussing the need for expanding countries to find a balance between the demand for high value property and green open spaces. I had also heard them from those countries that are now developing plans for urban growth and beginning to accommodate migration patterns. Nonetheless, it is clear that we are all interested in poverty alleviation approaches that will not only produce tangible benefits, but also reduce our carbon footprints. I believe this comes from a desire to maintain social cohesiveness and foster economic growth without degrading the resource base, even in urban environments. Therefore, this is one debate that I will enjoy entering into for many years to come.

Hopefully here are the future minds of urban forestry! 

by Dr. Kalpana Giri, Senior Program Officer, Social Inclusion and Gender Equity (SIGE), RECOFTC – The Center for People and Forests

Thai farmers harvest rice near Ta Pra Mok, Thailand. (Photo: David Longstreath/IRIN)

Calls for gender equality are inching their way up in the international development community. For example, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and various climate change policy agendas have included gender equality as a top priority.  The inclusion of such mandates on gender equality signals an increasing awareness and acknowledgment that we as the development community need to address gender inequality. Recent approaches call for the need to address the issue through innovative mechanisms of engagement, finance modalities, and public-private partnerships; however, these efforts will fall short if the rhetoric on gender equality is not made actionable in practice. There is thus a need to demonstrate how the common nexus between gender equality and climate change can be implemented in a fashion that delivers tangible results. Organizations that are at the forefront of translating policy to practice through tailored and targeted capacity approaches need to take progressive steps to make gender equality even more actionable.

Recognizing this, RECOFTC – The Center for People and Forest is making multiple efforts to strengthen gender equality in forestry landscapes through strategic interventions across its projects, programs, and institutional policies. To start with, RECOFTC initiated an assessment to take stock of its 30 years of operational experience of addressing gender equity and other social inclusion issues in the context of community forest landscapes in the South and Southeast Asia. This assessment was made available through Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida)’s Gender Facility Support and was facilitated by Women Organizing for Change in Agriculture and Natural Resources (WOCAN). Findings from the gender assessment were then presented to RECOFTC’s staff during a one and half day consultative workshop in December 12-13, 2017. The workshop aimed to learn from RECOFTC’s past experiences of implementing gender equity and social inclusion, assess opportunities and challenges, and identify inputs to support RECOFTC’s next five year strategic plan (2018-2023). The workshop was attended by senior managers, country and program officers, and our human resources unit. The workshop generated a common understanding among RECOFTC staff of important concepts involved, including gender equality, gender equity and social inclusion.

RECOFTC participates in a gender audit facilitated by WOCAN! (Photo: RECOFTC)

During the workshop, we identified the nexus between gender equality and sustainable forest landscapes. Throughout our tenure in community forestry development, we have understood that the long-term viability of community forest management is dependent on the inclusion of women. This is why we have adopted a fair treatment approach of gender equity and women’s empowerment to contribute towards gender equality. The goal is to ensure women’s full and effective participation, and that they are given equal opportunities for leadership; we have done this through targeted approaches of capacity building, decision making, and benefit acquisition. At the same time, we recognize that to achieve greater gender equality, we need to address other forms of social exclusion that intersect with gender. This includes realizing that class, race, caste, and ethnicity are all compounding forms of discrimination faced by women and other marginalized sections of the community, such as poor men and indigenous communities. This realization has helped us understand that gender equality and its relationship to social exclusion can, and should be, the entry-point to understand and address gender inequity and  all other forms of social exclusion. This must, however, be followed by the implementation of focused approaches and investments.

VIFORA Study Tour in Thailand (Photo: RECOFTC)

Moving forward, RECOFTC will proactively use gender equity as a core business element,  which in turn will help us foster new partnerships and enhance our innovation. A series of interventions have been identified to ensure that gender equity becomes a core business element of RECOFTC’s programs, projects and operations.

RECOFTC plans to use a three-tracked approach to implement gender equity. First, it will create standards and pathways to allow for the consistent application of gender policies into our work. Social Inclusion and Gender Equity (SIGE) as a key component and well-placed strategic goal in the next five year strategic plan (2018-2023) is a positive step towards this vision. We aim to put technical and institutional mechanisms in place to allow for a greater and consistent application of SIGE policies throughout the planning, budgeting, and implementation  processes. This will be further aided by frequent monitoring and communication systems that will capture and disseminate the results. Second, RECOFTC will invest in creating strategic initiatives and programs with the intent of driving the debate on gender equity. Particularly, we will expand upon the social dimensions of emerging political, economic and environmental issues that will have direct impacts on climate action and the SDGs. Currently, we are developing a Gender Leadership Co-Lab that will foster a cadre of leaders around forestry landscape who will promote inclusive forest governance using innovative partnerships and investments. Using these innovations, RECOFTC hopes to foster public-private partnerships and engage with investors to support inclusive business models that benefit women and other socially excluded groups across its landscapes. Finally, in line with these activities, we are also committed to keeping our own house in order. We are determined to strengthen our existing policies by underscoring our zero tolerance approach to issues of gender discrimination and any forms of sexual harassment and abuse. This will make RECOFTC an even safer and fairer work environment–a core principle in our pursuit of inclusive forest management.  

Women facilitators led sessions in Pakokku, Myanmar. (Photo: RECOFTC)

Making sure that the global processes of policy making consider the realities on the ground is equally important if we are to achieve a more inclusive world. Fortunately, RECOFTC finds itself in an opportunistic space to observe, inform, and implement activities that will make clear and meaningful links between global and local realities. We are especially proud to do so in the field of gender equality as we believe that our efforts will contribute towards making gender equality actionable and measurable within the global development community. Stay tuned to learn more about how we do it and what emerges out of our deliberate efforts to provide equality to all!

Deth Phouangmala, RECOFTC – Lao PDR Country Program

One of RECOFTC’s core values revolves around engaging multiple actors in a participatory approach to sustainable community forestry, and here at Lao PDR Country Programme (LCP), we have had ample opportunity to prove the effectiveness of such an approach. In recent years, Lao PDR has seen an increase in foreign investment, infrastructure development, and expanding agribusiness production. Consequently, one important stakeholder is often left out of discussions regarding community forestry related initiatives: the private sector.

By not actively engaging with the private sector, we are missing an important opportunity to improve the livelihoods of local communities. Working with the private sector also provides an opportunity to curtail potential harmful business practices that can lead to deforestation. In Lao PDR, however, RECOFTC has managed to successfully engage and take advantage of the private sector’s interest!

For the past ten years, Stora Enso Lao PDR (SEL), a Scandinavian plantation/Agroforestry Company, has been working with local communities in Savannaketh, Saravanh and Khammuan provinces in the south to plant eucalyptus trees on leased and rented land. This is not a small operation either. SEL agroforestry model currently covers a total area of 3,000 ha, which overlaps with approximately 2,350 households in 47 villages and 9 districts. Not only does SEL benefit from this engagement, they also bring benefits to local communities through land leasing, a village development fund, the provision of labour via a plantation model, unexploded ordnance clearing, and rice and other crop production between the tree spaces, whereby trees are planted in rows separated by 9 meters. The Stora Enso model can be seen as a responsible forest business model, which with the support of RECOFTC and local partners can be further scaled up to improve livelihoods for a larger population, including in the areas of gender equality, food security and access to markets.

SEL has often upheld admirable standards when working with local communities, but it was, and still is, set on continuously increasing them. With such a large operation, however, it is often difficult to improve at desired rates. This is where RECOFTC’s specialties have helped so far. As an organization that focuses on capacity development, we were in a suitable position to help SEL’s field staff understand better how the company wants to be perceived, the benefits of working with local communities, and the ways in which the company can better consult and engage positively with communities. To promote this, RECOFTC joined a partnership between SEL and Village Focus International to develop the capacity of SEL. This was graciously supported by MRLG, with advisory services from IFC.

As the common goal of the partnership was to improve and strengthen SEL’s field staff’s capacity to engage with the local communities in the company’s target areas, we followed a genuine participatory approach. This approach included both communities and the field staffs of SEL, focusing on training in the areas of Free, Prior, Informed Consent (FPIC) concepts, facilitation skills, conflict transformation, and value chain development. Partnering together for five sessions, we were able to demonstrate how strengthening social safeguards and ensuring proper methods of consultation and consent can be beneficial to both the community and the business operations. Sessions included interactive training and study tours, workshops, field tests and subsequent coaching sessions.

Our initiative was successful, and we have been able to record favorable progress: “Unlike the old days, right now the team is applying the FPIC process in their target villages,” noted Songkha Latpho, a SEL staff member on the Land Team in Sepon district, Savannaketh. Not only did RECOFTC improve the capacity of SEL’s field staff, but they also improved facilitation skills and community engagement. Mr. Latpho also conveyed this fact: “The decision making process … is now made by the whole communities, including the women, after sufficient information is given by the SEL team.” Now, we are more confident that their trained field staff engages with local communities in a respectful and productive manner, one that takes into account gender roles and includes a more collective approach to the marketing and selling of community products. Finally, as previously noted, this initiative benefited local communities as well. By utilizing participatory measures throughout this partnership and specific communications tools, such as the video on Good Faith Negotiations, the communities were able to better understand SEL business practices and increase their own voices in potential future partnerships. In sum, this initiative helped secure good and fair governance, the right to secure one’s livelihood, and produced sustainable management practices, both from a community and business lens. We are grateful to have contributed to this partnership.

As this initiative has shown, the private sector can benefit from the proper engagement with local peoples. At this very moment, we are discussing how SEL can further their ability to reach out to more communities, diversify crops and livestock, and introduce these communities to new markets. All partners agree that inclusion of local people in value chains will be beneficial for everybody and we are looking forward to finding new ways to improve the quality of life in the region! This partnership between RECOFTC, SEL, VFI, local communities and other civil society organizations working in Laos is one of the many examples of how participatory approaches in community forestry can act as a catalyst for change. By harnessing the skills and perspectives of multiple stakeholders, community forestry is a medium in which our mutual pursuit of equity, sustainable forest management, and a more just society can be realized.

Ben Forrest – Communications and Research Coordinator | Asia-Pacific Network for Sustainable Forest Management and Rehabilitation (APFNet)

With commitments in place including the Bonn Challenge to restore 150 million hectares and the APEC 2020 Goal to boost forest cover by 20 million hectares by 2020, the international community is making strides forward in tackling forest degradation. These targets require large areas of forests to be restored, meaning that adopting a landscape approach can have significant advantages.

However, restoring forests at the landscape level is a highly challenging, complex task. Not only do the requirements of a diverse range of stakeholders need to be incorporated into FLR strategies, but there is also a need for strong political will, adequate financing mechanisms, and sufficient capacity and human resources.

What are some of the ways that these can be addressed? In light of our recent workshop entitled “Realizing Forest Landscape Restoration Goals in ASEAN Member States” held in partnership with RECOFTC—The Center for People and Forests and China’s State Academy of Forestry Administration (STAFA), we thought it pertinent to answer such a question and highlight the four key components required for successful forest landscape restoration: enabling policy environment, strong and clear tenure rights, financing, and good governance. These components were the backbone of our workshop.

Increasing collaboration through policy dialogue

Executive Director of APFNet Mr. Lu De (middle) participates in a panel discussion at the 4^th APEC Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Forestry in Seoul, the Republic of Korea, 30 October – 1 November 2017

Supporting regional policy dialogue is one of the four key pillars that form the basis of APFNet’s activities (alongside capacity building, demonstration projects, and communication and information sharing). By bringing together high-level forestry officials from different economies, the stage is set for increased coordination and collaboration.

Ministerial-level meetings such as both the APEC and Greater Central Asia Meetings of Minsters Responsible for Forestry help reach consensus on tackling regional issues including increasing forest cover, combating illegal logging and addressing other transboundary issues such as forest fires and pests.

By highlighting the importance of sustainable development and management of forests to social, economic and environmental development, and the need for closer regional cooperation in forestry, ministerial-level meetings help forge agreement and partnership at the highest level, providing a strong foundation for large-scale restoration and landscape initiatives.

The importance of land tenure

At the other end of the scale, having clear tenure laws in place has a direct impact on those who rely on the forest to make a living.

By clarifying land usage rights, tenure reform can play a key role in improving the livelihoods of forest dependent communities.

However, tenure reform alone is not able to enhance the livelihood contribution of forests. It is necessary to increase productivity of forest products, and also add value to what is being produced.

Indeed, this is the case in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS), where people living in or close to forests earn part of their livelihoods through processing and selling timber and non-timber forest products (NTFPs).

Wood processing machinery can help local communities add value to the products they produce

Forestry enterprises in the region are faced with many challenges, including a shortage of production technology, outdated equipment and a lack of funds.

APFNet’s “Supporting Small Community-Based Forest Enterprises in the Greater Mekong Sub-region” project aims to address these challenges and improve forest management in the region by providing them with wood processing and furniture production technologies and equipment.

Secure land tenure provides the foundation for increased productivity and value addition, which can in turn improve the livelihoods of forest dependent communities.

Involving the private sector

While a strong policy foundation and clearly defined land tenure laws are clearly integral aspects of FLR, a lack of financing for forest restoration, management and planning can stop such efforts in their tracks.

Funding can come from a range of sources, including government, civil society organizations, the private sector, institutes and individuals, but is often hard to obtain.

Part of the battle in securing funding from the private sector is raising awareness of issues related to forestry, and highlighting them in a way that resonates.

The APFNet Fund is beginning to do this in the Chinese context. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a relatively new concept to Chinese companies, although many are beginning to see the value in supporting more socially and environmentally focused activities.

The project “Carbon Sink Forests Plantation and Rehabilitation”, supported by the People’s Insurance Company of China (PICC) Foundation, is an example of this. The project promotes sustainable forest management and rehabilitation through plantation development, growing saplings and sharing best practices to support effective management and protection of the forest.

Projects such as that supported by the PICC Foundation are examples of how the private sector can be involved in restoration efforts

Getting the private sector on board is one way of diversifying the funding streams needed for FLR and can help scale-up restoration initiatives, contributing significantly to their economic, social and environmental dimensions.

Good governance: the role of monitoring and evaluation

Finally, good governance is essential for harnessing the potential of the political will, land tenure laws and financing behind FLR efforts.

APFNet draws on developed economies’ experiences in jurisdiction, public involvement and development of resource and forest plans to improve the monitoring and evaluation (M&E) efforts of its members. This is vital as robust M&E measures the effectiveness of efforts, which is particularly important in FLR where there is the need to show the progress of initiatives to a wide range of stakeholders.

Having strong policy backing, land tenure that works for those that rely on the forest, sufficient financing and good governance are all integral components of FLR. APFNet works with partners such as RECOFTC and STAFA to contribute its experience in these areas, helping forge effective strategies for making FLR a reality.

David Gritten, RECOFTC -The Center for People and Forests

My head is sore. Nothing to do with Bangkok’s air pollution problem I think. It is more to do with reading the countless news articles of how we are abusing our natural environment (and each other). One result is that there are vast areas of degraded land covering the world. The area of degraded land in Asia varies according to whom you ask, but it is estimated to be between 12 million to 2,501 million ha – that is a lot of football pitches/fields (and another sore head as I try to understand this scale).

Forest Degradation in Mae Chaem, Thailand (Photo: RECOFTC)

What is the cause of this degradation? There are various reasons, but one key factor, that is universally acknowledged, is the weak tenure and rights of those living in and around forests. Because tenure and rights of the real forest owners are being ignored it means that there is little to no land stewardship. Where you get strong tenure and rights for locals, you get buy-in, ownership, protection and sustainable investments; where these rights are ignored or abused, you get the loss of natural forests and massive land degradation.

As countries in the region work to restore the degraded land (see the table below for an overview of some Southeast Asian countries) they must keep in mind that tenure and rights is at the heart of any of these efforts – in other words, without clear and strong rights for local communities most restoration efforts are doomed to fail.

Table 1. Degraded land, forest cover and reforestation targets of majority of ASEAN Member States (AMS)

Sources: FAO and RECOFTC (2016), RECOFTC and AWG-SF (2017)

RECOFTC is working with various stakeholders to ensure that restoration efforts do not get caught in the trap of failing to respect the tenure and rights of local communities. This is one of the key reasons why we advocate for forest landscape restoration (FLR) – including its emphasis on effective participation of the local communities in any restoration efforts and ensuring that the tenure and rights of these people is clear and strong.

What is FLR?

Forest landscape restoration (FLR) is the ongoing process of regaining ecological functionality and enhancing human well-being across deforested or degraded forest landscapes. FLR is more than just planting trees – it is restoring a whole landscape to meet present and future needs and to offer multiple benefits and land uses over time.

RECOFTC is implementing a capacity development program covering the key areas of forest landscape restoration. This program is partly based on a capacity development needs assessment that is helping to identify the key capacity gaps to achieving successful forest restoration through FLR. The multi-functional program that includes addressing issues of tenure and rights, livelihood development, and the financing of FLR, targets various stakeholders ranging from government to the financial and private sectors as well as the general public.

Let’s all get rid of our headaches and take care of our forests!

RECOFTC’s capacity development program of training, research, strategic communication, and piloting and demonstration, places a great deal of emphasis on the general public. In other words, YOU, recognising that one WE can address the various environmental challenges facing US is the first step. Come learn more, and we can realise this together at the 2^nd People and Forest Fair, which will highlight Forest Landscape Restoration (FLR) at the BACC Bangkok on 4 March 2018.

I am looking forward to being headache free, and so should you…

by Jonas Dahlstrom, Programme Officer, RECOFTC – The Center for People and Forests

The livelihoods of hundreds of millions of people in the Asia-Pacific region are dependent upon forest resources. Their livelihoods are strongly linked with how they interact with forest resources and other stakeholders in managing forests. However, tools to assess the rights and benefits of forest-dependent people are somewhat limited.

Local communities’ involvement in forest management is viewed in various ways; one widely used theoretical term for this is ‘community forestry’ (CF). It refers to ‘initiatives, science, policies, institutions and processes that are intended to increase the role of local people in governing and managing forest resources’. The argument goes that the more local people are aware of and are protected by rights, the higher is the likeliness that their way of living will contribute to healthy forests. In other words, local people hold the key to sustainable forest management. ^[1]

Current examples of CF assessment tools include A framework to assess extent and effectiveness of community based forestry (FAO, 2015)^[2] and Criteria and indicators of sustainability in community managed forest landscapes (CIFOR, 2000)^[3]. RECOFTC aims to build on these by developing a more holistic CF assessment framework that looks at forests from angles that include availability of natural resources, tenure rights, governance, participation, adaptive management and how to meet local needs.

In Southeast Asia community forestry is reported to have great potential and positive impacts in reducing deforestation and poverty, providing significant economic, environmental and social benefits from landscape to national levels.^[4] This is important as countries around the world strive to achieve the  sustainable development goals (SDGs), particularly in reducing poverty (SDG 1), food security (SDG 2), achieving gender equality (SDG 5) and the protection of forests and biodiversity (SDG 15).^[5]

However, because of different cultures, types of landscapes and financial situations in Southeast Asian countries, there have been difficulties to share lessons on when community forests work, and when they do not. To tackle this challenge, RECOFTC is developing a manual that outlines practical ways to analyze community forestry at the local level. By doing so we hope to support governments, communities and civil society organizations, or whomever has an interest in understanding CF.

This work is meant to help forest officers and local communities develop ideas of how different community forests can be improved and be able to link to broader development agendas such as the SDGs. The manual builds on RECOFTC’s long experience in CF and includes themes such as rights, benefits and livelihoods.

You can support us! Are you a researcher, local community member, forester, NGO worker or someone with experience in community forestry? We need your help to explain what is needed for a community forest to reach its full potential to make our manual as relevant as possible. You can support us in many ways. For instance, by explaining what you consider are the keys for community forests to be successful in supporting local people’s needs;  helping us to test our work; or  offering general suggestions related to what a manual like this could look like in order to be easy to read and easy to use.  Please email your comments to jonas.dahlstrom@recoftc.org

For more information on RECOFTC trainings and training manuals, see www.recoftc.org/training

^[1] The data includes 62 countries across all regions as reported by Gilmour, D. (2016). Forty years of community based forestry: A review of its extent and effectiveness. Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations. FAO Forestry Paper 176.

See also: RECOFTC. 2014. Current status of social forestry in climate change mitigation and adaptation in the ASEAN region: Situational analysis 2013. Bangkok, RECOFTC – The Center for People and Forests

^[2] Gilmour, D et al. 2015. A framework to assess extent and effectiveness of Community Based Forestry (CBF). Forest and Agriculture organisation (FAO)

 ^[3] Ritchie, B, McDougall, C. Haggith, M. Burford de Oliveira, N. 2000. Criteria and indicators of sustainability in community managed forest landscapes. Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR)

 ^[4] RECOFTC, 2016. Current status of social forestry in climate change mitigation and adaptation in the ASEAN region: Situational analysis 2016. Bangkok, RECOFTC – The Center for People and Forests (in press)

^[5] For detail see RECOFTC (2013). Community forestry in Asia and the Pacific: Pathway to inclusive development. RECOFTC-The Center for People and Forests, Bangkok.