Community Forestry Note No.14. This publication concerns legal issues that arise in cases of common property forestry, that is, when the right to use the forest and its products is vested in a community rather than individuals. The use may be carried out by members in loose or tight coordination, or even by individuals acting independently, using the resource serially or simultaneously, and within only very general limits set by the community. Discussion Community Management Communities are diverse. Their decision-making processes can be exclusive and can potentially further disadvantage groups within the community.
Loggers can align themselves to traditional local authorities and mask illegal logging activities.
As project managers, we should provide the space for objectives to emerge from the inside, rather than importing them for the outside. Detailed or overspecified community management plans often are too rigid and quickly become outdated as the context changes. Moreover, they usually respond to government priorities. But they are easier to control and it is easier to define what, when, how, and how much. On the other hand, we recognize that management plans need to build in a process approach to allow learning and community empowerment to take place.