THEMATIC PROGRAMME ON
COMMUNITY FOREST MANAGEMENT AND ENTERPRISES
Programme ProfileRATIONALE
Forests are important resources for the rural poor, with over 800 million people living inforests and woodlands in the tropics. In addition to their contributions to livelihoods byproviding a subsistence safety net, tropical forests are also a source of income andemployment, a capital asset, and, by providing natural medicines, an alternative health caresystem. Indigenous groups and communities own or manage about 20% of forests indeveloping countries, and this percentage is growing. Such communities, however, often facechallenges in managing their forests sustainably and in obtaining tangible benefits from theirefforts. In many cases, the forest areas for which they assume rights are degraded and,without investments in rehabilitation, have limited development potential. In many tropicalforests, most income for communities is derived from the collection and commercialization of
non-timber forest products (NTFPs) rather than from timber production.
Many community-based forest enterprises (CFEs) are involved in the harvesting andmanagement of forests and the processing of timber and NTFPs. They are typically small,
operate informally, and depend on national and niche export markets and they rarely form
part of organized commercial supply chains. Only a few have developed into medium-sizedindustrial enterprises, and their capacity to add value is generally low. Regulations may
unintentionally act as barriers to community access to forests, capital and markets and may
also unduly raise the costs of CFEs,. Weak governance and inequitable sharing of benefits
can be additional challenges. National policies may not recognize the economic potential ofcommunity forestry and broader social, cultural and other objectives which are important forCFEs.
One of the constraints to the development of forest communities, smallholders and theirenterprises can be their limited managerial and technical capacity. Building the capacity ofcommunities to plan, utilize, monitor and manage their forest resources is critical to reducing
their vulnerability to external pressures. CFEs faceparticular challenges in meeting thedemanding and complex market requirements for their products. On the other hand, many
new opportunities are emerging – e.g. growing national and regional markets for forest
products, community/smallholder-corporate partnerships, and high-value market niches indeveloped countries which appreciate the social value of community products – but external
support is necessary to make effective use of these. With adequate support, communitybased management and business models could often provide local solutions for thesustainable management and utilization of forests.
GENERAL OBJECTIVE
The general objective of the Thematic Programme is to contribute to poverty reduction intropical forest areas by: (i) strengthening the ability of forest communities and smallholders tosustainably manage their tropical forest resources; and (ii) assisting CFEs to add value to andmarket the products and services obtained from these resources.
PROGRAMME STRATEGYAt the community level the Programme would support CFEs to develop and implement
approaches with high employment and revenue creation potential and economic feasibility.
These would be targeted at improving forest management and the production of timber,

timber products and NTFPs to supply local industry or domestic and export markets.
Programme interventions would aim at strengthening organizational, managerial andtechnical skills and the business development of CFEs, smallholders and their organizations.
The programme strategy would focus on participatory planning and implementation wherecommunities define their own needs and priorities. Implementation would involve the piloting,demonstration and mainstreaming of successful approaches and models for creating
financially and economically viable, socially and culturally adapted CFEs.
At the country level, activities would include, inter alia, the strengthening of the policy, legal
and institutional frameworks for CFE development, training, increasing CFE access to capitaland markets, the strengthening of community-based organizations, associations andnetworks, the strengthening of local governance models, the development of tools forimplementing community forest management, and improving the efficiency of CFEs.
At the regional and international levels, activities would include, inter alia, providing support toknowledge management and the sharing of country experiences, and partnership-building
with interested national, regional and international bodies. To avoid duplication, theProgramme would rely heavily on existing knowledge and accumulated experience.
ANTICIPATED OUTPUTS/OUTCOMESThe intended outcomes of the Thematic Programme would be: (i) improved knowledge andskills in implementing sustainable forest management among communities, smallholders andtheir organizations; (ii) improved access by CFEs to capital and technology, and strengthened
marketing capacities; (iii) increased value added of CFE production; (iv) strengthenedorganizations of communities and smallholders; and (v) enabling policy and legal frameworks
at the country level to implement community forest management.
POTENTIAL PARTNERS/COLLABORATING AGENCIESThe Programme would be implemented in close cooperation with ITTO’s Civil Society Advisory
Group and Trade Advisory Group, and relevant international, regional and national organizations
and bodies.
INDICATIVE BUDGET AND TIMEFRAME
An indicative three-year budget of the Thematic Programme that would result in significant
improvements in the three tropical regions is US$10 million, most of which would be forcommunity-level pilot projects and other country-level activities.
POTENTIAL DONORS