| [Back to front page] | Local management of forests At the national level, for example, policies that encourage local management of forests are one means of ensuring more sustainable, longer-term benefits for future generations. In 1997 research on the effects of decentralisation of control to several lowland communities in Bolivia found that some communities had established municipal forestry units and that local governments had become involved in a wide variety of activities related to forest management and agroforestry, protected areas and land-use planning. Because it is not yet known whether the local units will have the technical capacities necessary to maintain their involvement, CIFOR’s research can help to identify policies and programmes that can develop this infrastructure. Decentralisation in Bolivia has opened up new possibilities for poor rural people in heavily forested municipalities to achieve greater access to forests and their resources, to engage in land-use planning, and to resist encroachment by large timber companies and ranchers. A CIFOR study found many obstacles as well: difficulties inherent in identifying appropriate public forests; a generally weak technical capacity of municipal governments; limited support from provincial and national governments; organisational problems among small-scale loggers who might benefit from the changes; and the loggers’ limited managerial skills and access to capital. A particularly delicate issue in devolution in Bolivia concerns protected areas which, by definition, restrict users’ access. But in some municipalities, support for such protected areas has grown as a result of interests in ecotourism, a desire to keep outside loggers away, and genuine concerns for resource conservation. CIFOR concluded that local governments that take on the tasks of managing forests sustainably will need substantial external assistance as well as an overall policy context favourable to local initiatives. They will also need clear mechanisms for exercising their legal rights and carrying out their responsibilities. So far, the assistance offered by external projects and NGOs has not been sufficient to consolidate their capacity to manage forest resources. An overriding question raised by devolution to community control is: Will
decentralisation lead to greater conservation of natural habitat and reduce the threats to
biodiversity? The answer is still unclear. ‘Most local groups are still more
concerned with their access to existing resources and immediate incomes than with
long-term sustainable development’, notes CIFOR agricultural economist David
Kaimowitz. ‘Compared to the powerful forces that favour increased forest clearing and
degradation in the Bolivian lowlands, the efforts to reverse these trends have yet to go
much beyond the level of good intentions and symbolic actions.’ |