Por que manejar uma floresta?

Community forest management (CFM) is increasingly recognised as a potentially effective way of maintaining forests, especially in the Global South. Despite the growing adoption of this approach, the results have been mixed and there is a need to explore both the ways in which a wider range of benefits can be obtained and how CFM can be implemented more effectively. New forest legislation on community forest management in the Southern Region of Ethiopia in 2012, alongside the development of a highly devolved method of CFM, provided a natural experiment for testing the effectiveness of this method as a way of maintaining forest and also supporting biodiversity conservation and carbon storage. The specific circumstances and details of the methods applied also provided an opportunity to compare this approach against other experiences of CFM to assess factors seen to be influencing success. This study was undertaken in an area of montane forest in south-west Ethiopia, which includes some of the remaining stands of wild Coffea arabica, and so it also sought to create supportive conditions for the in situ conservation of the wild coffee. Analyses of this approach to CFM over the six years show that the loss of forest was reduced to 0.18% per annum in the CFM managed areas compared to 2.6% per annum in the non-CFM forest, while biodiversity, in terms of species diversity, richness and evenness of distribution, was maintained in the natural forest managed under CFM. Carbon storage also increased in the natural forest managed under CFM. While the long-term results will only be seen after several decades, the findings show that the use of a highly devolved form of CFM, responding to felt needs and building up a community of practice were some of the positive influences which helped in achieving multiple impacts towards sustainable forest management and wild coffee conservation.

David Upton Peter de Groot Planting and Establishing of Tropical Trees 2008 Commonwealth Secretariat London 142 pp., £23.00, ISBN 978-0-85092-708-5

Rethinking ‘expert’ knowledge in community forest management in Tanzania

The study investigated gender participation in sustainable forest management in Cross River State, Nigeria. Multistage sampling procedure was used to select 135 respondents. Data was collected with the aid of structured questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive statistics and t-test at 5% level of significance. Socio-economic characteristics showed that 59.3% of forest users were males and 64.5% had primary education and below. Users were aware of sustainable forest management practices like: participation in forest management committee meetings (100%), prohibition of deforestation (98.5%), and membership into forest management committees (95.6%). Concerning participation in community forest management activities, 3.6% women participated in forest patrol activities against 27.5% men, 14.6% women belonged to community forest management groups compared to 40% men. Major factors that constrained women’s participation were: traditional gender roles/responsibilities (MS= 4.37) and high level of poverty (MS=4.32). For men they were: stringent laws on accessing/harvesting forest resources (MS= 4.25) and age of forest user (MS= 4.17). The t-test results showed that when equal variances were assumed, there was no significant difference in the level of participation in community forest management activities between the males and females [t (133) = -.723, p=.472, 95% CI (-.140, .065)]. The study recommended that technical support to community members should focus on strategies that motivate them to get actively involved in sustainable management of their forest.

ABSTRACTRural communities in Thailand have long managed and used forest resources for their livelihoods. Using survey data collected from 400 households across two villages in northeastern Thailand, this study identifies the factors influencing household members’ participation in local community forest management (CFM) programs. Results of the logit regression models revealed that occupation, the number of years of residence in the community, household income and expense, the receipt of CFM information and training, CFM knowledge, decision process in CFM program, and the perceived social and institutional benefits of CFM positively influenced participation in the CF programs. Furthermore, self-efficiency was found to negatively influence participation. Overall, the findings indicate that local people who are less confidence or do not view participation goals as important but when they have been trained, have knowledge about the value of community forest. They are more likely to participate in CFM programs. These results improve our understanding of household participation in community forest management and highlight the need for context-specific approaches to community engagement in forest management programs for optimal policy solutions.

Post-disturbance recovery is a central element of forest resilience against intensifying disturbance regimes. Although recovery signals are strong across Central European forests, the relative roles of different factors contributing to recovery remain incompletely understood. As climate change increasingly challenges recovery, elucidating these processes is essential to adapt forest management to changing climate and disturbance regimes. We extended and applied a biologically grounded model of forest growth to remote sensing data to quantify how management shapes two key drivers of canopy recovery—disturbance legacies and post-disturbance height growth—across Bavaria, Germany. We combined 23,036 ha of quality-filtered photogrammetric canopy height model data with a Landsat-based disturbance map, a forest ownership map and environmental covariates in a Bayesian modelling framework. Post-disturbance growth rates were governed primarily by forest type and site conditions, whereas management strongly influenced disturbance legacies, i.e. the remaining post-disturbance vegetation height structure on site. Legacies varied widely across management types: Federal and set-aside forests retained the highest level of disturbance legacies, while private forests had the lowest legacy levels. Despite marginally lower growth rates, set-aside areas had recovery trajectories that were comparable to managed forests. The median recovery time to 5 m mean canopy height was 14.3 years over all forest and management types. Set-aside areas exhibited the greatest variation in recovery trajectories. We here show that (i) management affects disturbance legacies more strongly than post-disturbance tree growth, (ii) set-aside areas do not differ in recovery speed from managed areas, and (iii) legacies are diversifying forest recovery trajectories, with potential implications for future forest resilience. Our results underline that the post-disturbance reorganization window is a crucial period for management to influence long-term forest development. The framework presented here provides a scalable approach to monitor structural recovery and guide adaptive forest policy and management under increasing disturbance. • Forest management in Central Europe affects post-disturbance recovery more via legacies than tree growth rates. • Set-aside forests recover their canopy height equally fast as managed forests in Central Europe. • Homogenizing and removing disturbance legacies can reduce forest canopy variation across forest stand development. • We combined a biological growth model with remote sensing data to assess forest canopy recovery.

Community forest management (CFM) is one way used to mitigate deforestation and forest degradation which have been occurring for more than half a century, particularly in northern Thailand. The collaboration in CFM, especially at multiple scales (e.g. subdistrict, district, or provincial levels) is essential to improve a forest ecosystem status and avoid forest degradation risks in the future. Recently, integrative and participatory modelling methodologies, specifically the Companion Modelling (ComMod), have been implemented in the context of sustainable common-pool resource management in several regions of the world. However, the application of this approach in CFM across institutional scales has still been challenging. Therefore, this research aimed to assess community forest ecosystem functions at the seven villages of Lainan Subdistrict, Wiang Sa District, Nan Province, and conduct a participatory modelling and simulation process to promote collaborative CFM at the subdistrict scale. Ecologically conventional and participatory assessments of ecosystem functions were performed to assess community forest ecosystem status. Lainan’s community forests have officially been operating for nearly 50 years. There were 67 tree species, 18 orders of soil fauna, 105 wild mushroom species, and 183 non-timber forest products (NTFPs). Among these diverse NTFPs, Melientha suavis, Oecophylla smaragdina’s queen broods, and wild edible mushrooms were identified as the three common NTFPs at this site with the productivity of 2, 12, and 2 kg/ha/y, respectively. The results from the participatory assessment showed that the forest status scores of all villages ranged from 233 to 322 of 500 points. Only village 3 obtained “good” for its community forest ecosystem status while the other villages’ status was “moderate”. However, all villages were still facing forest degradation risks. Following this preliminary diagnostic analysis, a ComMod process including two participatory modelling and simulation sequences was implemented with 48 local stakeholders. The results showed that this iterative and evolving process could stimulate the integration of scientific and local knowledge through the exchanges of viewpoints, perceptions, knowledge, and experiences among local stakeholders, as well as between them and researchers. Moreover, it also supported collective decision-making among them as two CFM collective action plans at the subdistrict scale were proposed, including establishment of firebreaks and management options to deal with the over-harvesting of non-timber forest products by outsiders. In summary, the participatory assessment generated a shared understanding on the community forest ecosystem status and the participatory modelling and simulation approach supported collaborative CFM at the subdistrict scale. To translate the proposed CFM plans into actual collective action, focus group discussions and further participatory gaming and simulation sessions need to be enhanced by enrolling diverse stakeholders across generations, especially young local villagers. The participatory assessment and modelling process used in this case study would be useful to improve collaborative CFM at higher institutional scales or at other sites facing the similar problems.

More than half of Mexico’s forests and about a third of the forests of the world are communally owned. Despite this, community forest management (CFM) is the least studied forest management policy, and existing studies have focused on the effects of CFM on deforestation. In this paper, we evaluate the effect of CFM on land cover more broadly, to understand how CFM affects a community’s land use decisions. Mexico’s forestry administration mandates that to legally sell timber, communities must adopt forest management plans designed by a certified forester. In this study, we use differential access to foresters to identify the effect of community management on land cover and deforestation. We find that over time communities that adopt management plans see relatively more primary forest, a limited expansion of the agricultural frontier, and a decrease in deforestation. The decrease in deforestation is economically significant since the economic benefits from the avoided CO2 emissions alone could far outweigh the costs of adopting the management plans.

Objective: Present an overview of the licensing of community timber forest management activities in the State of Amazonas between the years 2000 and 2021. Theoretical Framework: This study is addresses the topic of community-based timber forest management. It presents its history and evolution in the Amazon, addressing the main implementation difficulties, supporting legislation and the quantification of initiatives in the region. Method: The present study is characterized by a qualitative and quantitative approach, using bibliographic and documentary research. A survey was carried out on community timber forest management activities in the State of Amazonas, using the information base provided by the Amazonas Environmental Protection Institute. Results and Discussion: The results obtained revealed that between 2000 and 2021, 100 environmental exploration licenses were issued for community logging forest management, with projects located in 11 municipalities in the State of Amazonas, with emphasis on Maraã, Santo Antônio do Iça and Uarini. The total volume of licensed wood for the period was 68,122.43 m3 and 10,242 trees were harvested, with emphasis on the species assacu (Hura crepitans L.), macacarecuia [Eschweilera albiflora (DC.) Miers] and mulateiro [Calycophyllum spruceanum (Benth.) K.Schum.]. Research Implications: Based on the understanding from bibliographical and documentary analyzes of community forest management activities, it is expected to contribute to the strengthening of a planning policy on the activity, both at the local and regional level. Originality/Value: There is no unifying source of data on community forest management in the State of Amazonas that can generate consistent and updated statistics in a timely manner. In this way, the research aims to contribute to strengthening the activity at both local and regional levels, making community timber forestry management not just a simple supplier of raw materials, but linked to a wood production chain, generating high-value-added products, with raw materials of legal origin.

Global financial donors have invested billions of dollars in “Sustainable Forest Management” to conserve forests and the ecosystem services they provide. A major contributing mechanism, community forest management (CFM), aims to provide global environmental benefits (reduce deforestation, maintain biodiversity), while also improving local human welfare (alleviate poverty). We have systematically reviewed available evidence of CFM effectiveness and consider the implications of our findings for future investment in CFM programs. There is evidence of CFM being associated with greater tree density and basal area but not with other indicators of global environmental benefits. We found no data on local human welfare amenable to meta‐analysis. Poor study design, variable reporting of study methodology or context, and lack of common indicators make evidence synthesis difficult. Given the policy interest in and the planned donor expenditure on CFM, evaluation must be improved so that informed decisions can be made about appropriate investment in this approach.

Learning amongst ourselves: adaptive forest management through social learning in Zimbabwe

Forest resources are a salient and critical issue requiring ongoing attention by the Thai government. Community forest management (CFM) is a practice used to, among other things, resolve land use issues and regulate the extraction and use of non-timber forest product (NTFPs). Managing as a community forest can not only enhance the livelihoods of the local people but also improve their socio-economic condition. This research was conducted at the Ban Mae Chiang Rai Lum Community Forest located in Pa Mae Phrik National Forest Reserve in Thailand’s northern province of Lampang. We collected species biodiversity data of the forest’s total area of 3,925 ha using a systematic sampling method, and twenty-five 40 × 40 m (0.16 ha) survey plots were established in the community forest. Interviews of 159 household heads and/or other household representatives were conducted using a designed questionnaire. The questionnaire focused on information regarding the households’ NTFP utilization habits and engagement in CFM processes. A forest survey was conducted which found that there were 197 plant species, 144 genera, and 62 families in the community forest. Of these, 160 plant species were classified as having medicinal uses, 89 were used as food, 37 as extractives, 32 for firewood, and 12 for fibers. This study also revealed that unmonitored over-exploitation of NTFPs may negatively impact forest biodiversity. As surveyed, 68.55% of households depended on NTFPs. The value of the harvested NTFPs was 6.35% of the total community income. A positive correlation between NTFP income and CFM suggests that utilization of NTFPs combined with CFM can create income opportunities and promote participation in CFM. In addition, income earned from NTFPs and participation in CFM were directly related to the socio-economics of identifiable groups in this community. Laborers, merchants, and low-income families utilized NTFPs to a lesser degree. Single people, household heads, those with a bachelor’s degree, and low income families were less likely to participate in CFM while land owners were more likely to do so. This study implies that the harvesting of NTFPs should not go unchecked, especially of species that are threatened or likely to be threatened if over-harvested. Efforts to enhance lower income household utilization, to more equitably distribute the benefits, and to incentivize community involvement should be prioritized as doing so is crucial to maintaining a healthy supply of NTFPs and safeguarding the community forest biodiversity.

Community-based Forest Management (CBFM) has emerged as a vital tool for promoting sustainable forest management and improving the livelihoods of local communities dependent on forest resources. This paper examines the role of forest certification within CBFM, mainly Village Land Forest Reserves (VLFR), in enhancing the livelihoods of communities and forest governance in the southern part of Tanzania. The villages were selected purposively using five criteria, such as the existence of an up-to-date management plan, good record keeping, an active and functional forest committee, good experience in implementing Forest Stewardship Council (FSC) group certification and forest size. Mixed-methods approach, including household surveys, key informant interviews and field observations, were used to collect information. During the household surveys, random sampling was used to select households. The sample size of 85 households were surveyed, where 39 were from Likawage and 46 from Nanjirinji village. Content analysis was used for qualitative data, where the data were compiled and responses coded, identifying the range of responses to each question, creating matrices in SPSS that cross-listed each response variable by village. These were done through descriptive statistics, where measures of central tendency, such as means, median, percentage and counts, were computed. The results indicate that certified forests improve communities’ livelihood through increased employment opportunities, access to markets for forest products and better forest governance. Additionally, certification has contributed to capacity-building and the empowerment of local communities in forest management. Challenges such as limited financial resources, inadequate knowledge, and logistical constraints hindered the full realisation of certification benefits. The study concludes that forest certification offers significant potential for improving livelihoods. It reveals significant social, environmental and economic benefits, where 92 and 98 percent of Likawage and Nanjirinji A households, respectively, responded that there are some improvements in education, healthcare and food security. To maximise the benefits of forest certification, efforts should focus on strengthening market access, capacity building, and policy support. Improving trade linkages, infrastructure, and value-added processing can enhance economic returns for certified communities. Expanding training programs on sustainable forestry, business skills, and cooperative management will empower locals to better utilise certification benefits.

Tujuan penelitian ini menjelaskan pengelolaan hutan desa yang dibentuk dalam kawasan Hutan Lindung Gambut (HLG) Sungai Buluh di Provinsi Jambi. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode kualitatif dengan pendekatan etnografi kritis. Hasilnya menunjukkan bahwa keberadaan hutan desa memperkuat legitimasi perlindungan hutan gambut atas desakan hutan produksi yang mengelilinginya. Sehingga, masyarakat melalui hutan desa secara tidak langsung mempertahankan keberadaan hutan lindung gambut. Selain itu, fungsi hutan lindung gambut juga dibuka akses (ruang kelola) kepada masyarakat melalui perhutanan sosial. Sehingga, bukan hanya tujuan untuk melindungai hutan tapi juga meningkatkan kesejahteraan masyarakat lokal. Simpulan penelitian bahwa konsep sosial muncul pada tahun 1978 sebagai "hutan untuk masyarakat" (forestry for people). Pada tahun 1990-an, gagasan Pengelolaan Hutan Berbasis Komunitas (PHBM) muncul, yang mengarah pada era reformasi saat ini. Konsep sosial bertujuan untuk meningkatkan partisipasi dan meningkatkan kesejahteraan masyarakat dalam pengelolaan hutan di Indonesia. Namun, ia menghadapi tantangan seperti kurangnya keterlibatan masyarakat dan fokus pada aspek produk dan lingkungan. Kata Kunci: Hutan Desa, Pengelolaan Hutan Berbasis Masyarakat, Perhutanan Sosial

Despite greater participation of communities in forest management in Uganda, women have been largely shut out of decision making. More women need to take up leadership positions so that they are better able to set the agenda. Formal forest-user groups (unlike informal ones) appear to elevate the quality and extent of women's participation in decision making in forest management. Better information and finances could enable women to participate more effectively in the management of forest resources in the country. Women represented only 5% of political and technical leadership positions in the three study districts. There is a clear need for affirmative action. District and sub-county technical staff and political leaders need training in gender issues. Educated women are often not particularly good at representing womens' needs: their urban elite lives are too different from the lives of poor, rural women.