The Place of Community Forest Management in the REDD+ Landscape

Community forest management (CFM) is identified by many actors as a core strategy for reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation in developing countries (REDD+). Others however see REDD+ as a danger to CFM. In response to these contrasting views, we carried out a systematic review of CFM case studies to look at CFM’s potential role in achieving forest carbon benefits and social co-benefits for forest communities. We evaluated the potential impacts of REDD+ on CFM. Our review showed that there is strong evidence of CFM’s role in reducing degradation and stabilizing forested landscapes; however, the review also showed less evidence about the role of CFM in reducing deforestation. For social benefits, we found that CFM contributes to livelihoods, but its effect on poverty reduction may be limited. Also, CFM may not deal adequately with the distribution of benefits within communities or user groups. These insights are important for CFM-based REDD+ intervention; measures should be adopted to overcome these gaps. Innovative incentive structures to existing CFM are discussed. The recognition of rights for forest communities is one first step identified in promoting CFM. We call for sound empirical impact evaluations that analyze CFM and CFM-based REDD+ interventions by looking at both biophysical and social outcomes.