• Climate change

Climate change

The report discusses how tensions over forests in coming decades will influence the severity of climate change, the course of wars and civil conflicts, and the health of the world. It is asserted that few development interventions in forest areas have worked in favour of either the forest dwellers or the forests and that a new approach and urgent action is needed.

The authors argue that recognising and strengthening the property rights of forest communities is the most important step towards avoiding impending social and political disputes and establishing the necessary institutional footing needed for social and economic development in forest areas. With proactive steps, climate change can be converted from a major threat to a major opportunity to address these challenges.

The document goes on to set a development agenda in order to scale up efforts to advance equitable forest governance and development for all stakeholders. This includes:

• scale up investments in recognising land ownership and strengthening local voices and governance in all forest development interventions
• establish the policies and institutions required for rethinking and reforming the organisation of the public forest domain
• remove regulatory barriers and encourage voluntary compliance to support rights
• support diverse land use and management systems at varied scales
• encourage the spread of small and medium enterprises, and associations with larger industry
• invest in community networks, longer-term training, and the professionalisation of community members and leaders
• identify business opportunities with local producers

The document concludes that the rise of forest-community advocacy groups and small-medium forest enterprises, coupled with shifts in the attitudes of governments towards land reform and rights, suggests that we are on the threshold of a new and exciting era in the development of forest areas.

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