Community Forest Management and Agroecology

This report by Friends of the Earth International explores the synergies between Community Forest Management (CFM) and agroecology, arguing that these community-led approaches are more effective for forest conservation and food sovereignty than industrial agribusiness or top-down conservation models like REDD+.

• Community Forest Management (CFM) is a comprehensive approach that integrates political, cultural, spiritual, and technical dimensions to manage territories and commons, focusing on the wellbeing of families and the maintenance of ecosystems rather than anthropocentric goals.
• Agroecology serves as a political plan and practice to ensure the right to food and achieve food sovereignty, encompassing activities like cultivation, animal farming, forestry, and artisanal fishing, often led by women on a small scale.
• CFM and agroecology share several core principles, including the primacy of territorial control by local communities, the autonomy of women, the promotion of social and solidarity economies, and the valuation of traditional knowledge and diversity.
• The report critiques the FAO's definition of forests for being too narrow and biological, which allows monoculture plantations to be classified as forests, thereby facilitating deforestation and the displacement of forest-dependent peoples.
• Market-based conservation mechanisms, such as REDD+ and Payment for Environmental Services (PES), are identified as threats that can erode traditional values, halt the transmission of ancestral knowledge, and lead to the 'de-territorialisation' of communities.
• Intensive agribusiness is described as a false solution to hunger and a primary driver of deforestation, with commercial agriculture accounting for nearly 70% of deforestation in Latin America.
• Evidence suggests that forests under community management often exhibit better biodiversity and lower deforestation rates than those under official state-protected regimes.
• The report emphasizes that women's autonomy is central to agroecology and CFM, noting that while women often lead agroecological initiatives, they frequently lack formal land rights and are marginalized in male-dominated forest management projects.
• Traditional knowledge is presented as a dynamic tool for sustainability, exemplified by the domestication of species like cassava in the Amazon and the restoration of alpine pastures in Switzerland using traditional methods.

APA

Calle, D. C. (2017). Community Forest Management and Agroecology. Friends of the Earth International. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/foei-cfm-agroecology-EN-WEB.pdf

Chicago

Calle, Diego Cardona. Community Forest Management and Agroecology. Friends of the Earth International, 2017. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/foei-cfm-agroecology-EN-WEB.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Calle |first1=Diego Cardona |title=Community Forest Management and Agroecology |publisher=Friends of the Earth International |date=October 2017 |url=https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/foei-cfm-agroecology-EN-WEB.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{calle2017community, author = {Calle, Diego Cardona}, title = {{Community Forest Management and Agroecology}}, institution = {Friends of the Earth International}, year = {2017}, month = oct, url = {https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/05/foei-cfm-agroecology-EN-WEB.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }