TY - JOUR
T1 - Barriers and Facilitators for Successful Community Forestry
T2 - Lessons Learned and Practical Applications From Case Studies in India and Guatemala
AU - Jamkar, Vishal
AU - Butler, Megan
AU - Current, Dean
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 University of California Press. All rights reserved.
PY - 2023/4/21
Y1 - 2023/4/21
N2 - Internationally, numerous examples have been of efforts to promote community-based forest management (CBFM) through forest decentralization programs that promote forest conservation and livelihood improvements. Although there are successful examples, those efforts have been met with mixed success. This article proposes an analytical framework for evaluating the case studies of CBFM, highlighting the interconnection between community capital, land tenure, and markets. The analytical framework is used to analyze factors contributing to community forestry success focusing on two case studies in central India and northern Guatemala's Maya Biosphere Reserve. We evaluate how the interplay of community capitals (i.e., community skills and resources), tenure, and markets is crucial for the successful replication of community forestry efforts. Specifically, we demonstrate that community capital factors such as social (bonding and linking), human, natural, and political; tenure factors such as a legal basis for rights, implementation of rights policy, community engagement in decision-making related to rights, withdrawal rights; and market factors such as market availability for the product, market accessibility for the producers, and profitability are the most important for facilitating and replicating community forestry efforts. Our framework can be used by nonprofits and policymakers to engage with community forestry planning as well as for monitoring and evaluation.
AB - Internationally, numerous examples have been of efforts to promote community-based forest management (CBFM) through forest decentralization programs that promote forest conservation and livelihood improvements. Although there are successful examples, those efforts have been met with mixed success. This article proposes an analytical framework for evaluating the case studies of CBFM, highlighting the interconnection between community capital, land tenure, and markets. The analytical framework is used to analyze factors contributing to community forestry success focusing on two case studies in central India and northern Guatemala's Maya Biosphere Reserve. We evaluate how the interplay of community capitals (i.e., community skills and resources), tenure, and markets is crucial for the successful replication of community forestry efforts. Specifically, we demonstrate that community capital factors such as social (bonding and linking), human, natural, and political; tenure factors such as a legal basis for rights, implementation of rights policy, community engagement in decision-making related to rights, withdrawal rights; and market factors such as market availability for the product, market accessibility for the producers, and profitability are the most important for facilitating and replicating community forestry efforts. Our framework can be used by nonprofits and policymakers to engage with community forestry planning as well as for monitoring and evaluation.
KW - community capital
KW - community forest rights
KW - community-based forest management (CBFM)
KW - conservation
KW - forest decentralization
KW - forest product markets
KW - Forest Rights Act
KW - forest tenure
KW - Guatemala
KW - India
KW - tenure
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85159053202&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85159053202&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1525/cse.2023.1827932
DO - 10.1525/cse.2023.1827932
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85159053202
SN - 2473-9510
VL - 7
JO - Case Studies in the Environment
JF - Case Studies in the Environment
IS - 1
M1 - 1827932
ER -