About RECOFTC

What is RECOFTC?

RECOFTC – The Center for People and Forests is an international organization with a vision of local communities actively managing forests in Asia and the Pacific to ensure optimal social, economic, and environmental benefits. Learn more at RECOFTC.org.

What does RECOFTC do?

As a capacity-development organization, RECOFTC improves the ability of people and organizations to conduct community forestry effectively and sustainably. Over the past two decades, we have trained 10,000 people from more than 20 countries in devolved forest management — from national policy makers, researchers, and practitioners, right through to local forest users.

Training and other learning events are central to all of RECOFTC’s work. We support these efforts with on-the-ground projects, critical issue analysis, and strategic communication.

RECOFTC works toward its mission through four thematic programs:

• Expanding community forestry: Through our frontline country programs, RECOFTC works to secure rights for forest-dependent communities to manage their forests. RECOFTC-supported sites — maintained in close partnership with communities, nongovernment organizations (NGOs), and all levels of government — demonstrate good practices and develop key lessons, which a re shared nationally and internationally to accelerate the scaling up of community forestry and its impacts.
• People, forests, and climate change: In the Asia-Pacific region, local people hold the key to forests fulfilling their potential for climate change mitigation and adaptation. Community forestry is also an effective means of increasing communities’ resilience to the impacts of climate change. We advocate for pro-poor climate change strategies and policies, working to ensure that all forestry stakeholders, especially those at the grassroots level, are prepared to meet the social, economic, and financial challenges that lie ahead.
• Transforming forest conflict: Marginalized communities, powerful commercial plantation developers, corruption, unclear land tenure laws — stories of local people involved in conflicts over forest resources regularly fill the pages of the region’s newspapers, exposing the scale of damaging impacts. By analyzing and better understanding conflict dynamics, this program promotes lasting solutions at both the policy and community levels.
• Securing local livelihoods: RECOFTC’s innovative livelihoods program seeks to realize the full potential of forest-related resources. By analyzing the opportunities and constraints of local people’s access to market-based forest activities, this program proposes solutions that are socially just. It helps to ensure that local people have the skills and knowledge to engage meaningfully in emerging opportunities, such as Payments for Ecosystem Services, carbon markets, certification schemes, and non-timber enterprises.

What Are RECOFTC’s Guiding Principles?

• Clear and strong rights are essential if local people, especially the poorest and most vulnerable, are to actively engage in and benefit from forest management. RECOFTC works on strengthening local people’s rights to access, use, and own forests through tenure, policy, and market reforms.
• Good governance is necessary for the development and implementation of “community friendly” national forest policies, programs, and regulatory frameworks. RECOFTC promotes the rule of law, transparency, accountability, and the meaningful participation of people in local decision-making processes. Local people must be empowered to make their own choices and have their voices heard.
• A fair share of benefits for local people from forestry is needed to help reduce poverty and motivate active participation in forest governance and management. RECOFTC aims to increase and diversify sustainable income generation opportunities from forest management, and to ensure that benefits are shared equitably.

Where does RECOFTC work?

Headquartered in Bangkok, Thailand, RECOFTC works throughout Asia and the Pacific. In 2010, we established country program offices in Cambodia, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam.

RECOFTC engages in strategic networks and effective partnerships with governments, nongovernment organizations, civil society, the private sector, local people, and research and educational institutes throughout the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.

 

To find out more, please visit www.recoftc.org