Who conserves the world’s forests?

Traditional approaches to conserving biodiversity are based on the management of protected areas. This is no longer enough; much of the remaining biodiversity – including 90 percent of the world’s forests – exists outside protected areas.  If alternative approaches are to work, it is crucial to understand how local forest communities already conserve biodiversity, and how global investments in conservation can support this.

Research from Forest Trends, USA, examines how indigenous people and other local communities in Asia, Africa and the Americas are currently conserving forests. Community-driven biodiversity conservation covers significant areas of forest. The largest areas are natural forests legally owned by indigenous communities through their ancestral territories. Also significant are forests mixed with low-intensity agriculture, forest frontier areas and intensively managed areas with community-based resource management and restoration. The conservation efforts made by these communities are significant globally. Despite this, many do not have legal rights to the resources they are managing and conserving.

Population density is not significant in determining where community conservation systems exist. Examples of community-based conservation can be found in forested areas with relatively low population densities, such as indigenous lands in the Brazilian Amazon. The majority of examples, however, are in forested areas where rural population densities are medium to high. These include ejidos in Mexico, communities managing village forests in South Asia, and village forests and conservancies in Sub-Saharan Africa and North America. These community-based efforts form an important part of global investments in forest conservation.

The research shows:

• There is an annual funding shortfall of US$27–30 million for the management and expansion of existing public protected areas. Current levels of international finance – often in the form of overseas development assistance - are declining.
• Governments in developing countries do not spend enough on managing protected areas.
• Communities spend significant amounts of time, labour and money on forest management and conservation. In total, it is about the same as the annual budgetary allocation of developing countries for protected areas, and about double the annual allocation of overseas aid to protected areas.

How can responses to this pattern of conservation be developed in ways that supports community efforts? One way is to rethink policy and regulatory frameworks, many of which were designed to respond to different historical situations. New types of policy support are needed for local organisations, including elements to strengthen local ability to fund conservation. New conservation science is also needed. Key elements for these changes include:

• Securing land tenure rights and resource access for forest communities.
• Respecting indigenous peoples’ rights and development aspirations.
• Supporting policies that strengthen local community conservation institutions.
• Ensuring forest communities have fair access to markets for valuable forest products.
• Channeling funds in a flexible way to complement local initiatives, rather than planning or designing conservation models from outside these communities.
• Involving communities in conservation science and as research partners.

The large areas of the world’s forest managed and conserved by forest communities represent both a unique opportunity and a unique challenge. With global and forest populations increasing, it is necessary to assist these communities in achieving their development and conservation goals.

Source(s):
‘Who Conserves the World’s Forests? Community-Driven Strategies to Protect Forests and Respect Rights’, Forest Trends, 2004 Full document.

Funded by: Forest Trends and Ecoagriculture Partners, Government of Netherlands, US Agency for International Development

id21 Research Highlight: 7 April 2005

Further Information:
Augusta Molnar
Forest Trends
1050 Potomac Street NW
Washington, D.C
20007
USA

Tel: +1 (0) 202 298 3000
Fax: +1 (0) 202 298 3014
Contact the contributor: Amolnar@forest-trends.org

Forest Trends, USA

Other related links:
'Environmental services, tropical forests and local livelihoods'

'Linking conservation and sustainable livelihoods'

'Securing the future of forests – lessons from Namibia'

'Can forestry contribute to poverty reduction? A case study of Kyrgyzstan'

Forest Conservation Portal

Ecoagriculture Partners

Eldis - forestry