Forests

Woman of Samjhana Community Forest User Group growing roots of a medicinal plant. In addition to the money made when selling them, they also constitute an ideal crop in areas with lots of wildlife damage: this is a plant that animals don’t eat.
© WWF-Canon / Helena TELKÄNRANTA

Benefits for Forests and the People Who Depend on Them
Rural and indigenous communities around the world have a long tradition of managing forest resources independently or through the cooperative or collective efforts of community members. While "community forestry" defies one simple definition, the common denominator is that community forests are managed by social groups for multiple benefits, not primarily for business purposes.

Community forest management has demonstrated potential to make important contributions to poverty alleviation and conservation objectives. However, most approaches to responsible forest management, and forest certification in particular, have marginalized the role that community managed forests have played, and can play, in achieving multiple social, economic and conservation benefits.

WWF is working in places like Mesoamerica, Madagascar and South Asia to ensure that responsible forest management practices like certification are appropriately integrated into community-managed forests to provide benefits for forests and the people who depend on them. To accomplish this goal, WWF is supporting national sustainable forest management processes that incorporate community forest management; helping specific community forest managers to practice certification; facilitating exchanges of information and expertise between community forest managers and certification experts; and providing training on community forest management for forest officers and community members.