ESSENTIAL RIGHTS FOR COMMUNITY FOREST MANAGEMENT

This report by Friends of the Earth International (FoEI) outlines the essential rights and conditions necessary for effective Community Forest Management (CFM). It argues that CFM is a tool for protecting biodiversity and improving the quality of life for Indigenous Peoples and local communities, provided that States guarantee their inherent rights to territory, self-determination, and well-being.

• FoEI identifies several systemic threats to the rights of communities practicing CFM, primarily driven by a development model focused on profit. These threats include the 'Financialization of Nature (FoN)', industrial logging, mining, oil exploration, and the imposition of protected areas on Indigenous and local territories.
• Effective CFM requires specific internal community conditions to ensure stability and justice. These include organization based on customs and traditions, inclusive decision-making that avoids the influence of external entities, and the full and equal inclusion of women, youth, and immigrants to dismantle patriarchal and capitalist systems of oppression.
• The right to self-determination or autonomy is a critical external condition that must be guaranteed by the State. This includes recognizing community-based legal frameworks for conflict resolution and accepting that communities are the authorities and governments within their own territories.
• Rights to territory are central to CFM and include the requirement for collective land titles that are valid 'in perpetuity'. FoEI asserts that no new conservation areas should be established in these territories without explicit consent, and that State claims to subsoil rights often render surface land rights void in practice.
• The right to well-being is defined as the State's obligation to provide public services and support for community-decided development without using models based on the commodification of Nature. FoEI warns that funds from REDD or extractive corporations can facilitate 'greenwashing' and violate the rights of other communities.
• Communities must have the right to decide on proposals from external entities through a process of Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC). This process must be conducted in the community's own language, respect their internal timelines, and allow for the absolute right to say no, including the establishment of 'no-go zones'.
• Cultural and traditional knowledge rights include the ability to reject patents and intellectual property claims over seeds and biological diversity. FoEI argues that traditional knowledge should be recognized as scientific knowledge and protected from criminalization by State seed-related legislation.
• The rights associated with CFM are characterized as universal, interdependent, indivisible, unalienable, and collective. FoEI maintains that these rights derive their authority from community traditions rather than State law, and that collective rights should prevail over individual rights to safeguard the community.

APA

Friends of the Earth International (2020). ESSENTIAL RIGHTS FOR COMMUNITY FOREST MANAGEMENT. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Essential-rights-for-community-forest-management.pdf

Chicago

Friends of the Earth International. ESSENTIAL RIGHTS FOR COMMUNITY FOREST MANAGEMENT. 2020. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Essential-rights-for-community-forest-management.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Friends of the Earth International |title=ESSENTIAL RIGHTS FOR COMMUNITY FOREST MANAGEMENT |date=July 2020 |url=https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Essential-rights-for-community-forest-management.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{friendsoftheearthinternational2020essential, author = {{Friends of the Earth International}}, title = {{ESSENTIAL RIGHTS FOR COMMUNITY FOREST MANAGEMENT}}, institution = {Friends of the Earth International}, year = {2020}, month = jul, url = {https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/Essential-rights-for-community-forest-management.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }