La gestion communautaire des forêts (GCF)

The report promotes community forest management (GCF) as a holistic approach to forest conservation and social justice, contrasting it with destructive industrial logging and the REDD+ mechanism. It argues that GCF, rooted in the 'bien-vivre' paradigm, effectively reduces deforestation and protects biodiversity by empowering indigenous and local communities with secure land tenure and ancestral knowledge. The document highlights the failures of carbon markets and 'sustainable forest management' labels used by corporations to mask extraction. It recommends strengthening community land rights, eliminating fossil fuel subsidies to fund adaptation, and reducing international trade in tropical hardwoods.

• Community forest management (GCF) is more effective at reducing deforestation than absolute protection regimes. A comparative analysis of 40 protected areas and 33 GCF experiences across Mexico, South America, Africa, and Asia showed annual deforestation rates of 1.47% in absolute protection zones compared to no more than 0.24% in community-managed zones.
• The 'bien-vivre' (well-living) paradigm opposes capitalist notions of 'progress' and 'sustainable development,' emphasizing harmony with nature, social equality, and the use of ancestral knowledge to manage ecosystems.
• Secure land tenure and clear territorial boundaries are the most critical factors for the success of GCF initiatives. Without legal certainty, communities are vulnerable to displacement and corporate land grabs.
• The REDD+ (Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) system is criticized for encouraging the recentralization of forest governance, favoring centralized bureaucracies and economic power groups over local communities.
• Industrial 'sustainable forest management' is often a facade for destructive commercial logging. Selective logging using heavy machinery causes soil compaction, erosion, and forest fragmentation, which increases fire risks and reduces biodiversity.
• Forests managed by indigenous peoples in Costa Rica maintain higher quality primary forest cover and greater biodiversity than national natural reserves.
• The document identifies a critical need to shift international funding away from fossil fuel investments toward community-led climate adaptation. In 2013, $1,100 billion was spent on fossil fuel extraction and transport, while only $130 billion went to energy efficiency.
• Gender inequality persists in forest management; women often possess specialized knowledge of forest resources (such as the moabi tree in Cameroon) but are frequently excluded from decision-making processes.

APA

Baltodano, J. (2018). La gestion communautaire des forêts (GCF). Friends of the Earth International. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/La-gestion-communautaire-des-forets_FR-1.pdf

Chicago

Baltodano, Javier. La gestion communautaire des forêts (GCF). Friends of the Earth International, 2018. https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/La-gestion-communautaire-des-forets_FR-1.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |last1=Baltodano |first1=Javier |title=La gestion communautaire des forêts (GCF) |publisher=Friends of the Earth International |date=2018 |url=https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/La-gestion-communautaire-des-forets_FR-1.pdf |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{baltodano2018gestion, author = {Baltodano, Javier}, title = {{La gestion communautaire des forêts (GCF)}}, institution = {Friends of the Earth International}, year = {2018}, url = {https://www.foei.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/La-gestion-communautaire-des-forets_FR-1.pdf}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }