Rethinking Collaborative Arrangements with Local Partners

More forest area is being designated for
use by local communities and indigenous peoples. In a
growing number of countries legislation is being introduced
to ensure that local partners share in the benefits of
forest operations and participate as active stakeholders in
the sustainable use of forest resources. Private sector
investment in the forest sector is increasing as well. For
businesses in an expanding range of investment settings,
establishing and maintaining positive working relationships
with local communities is an essential part of gaining
access to natural resources, local skills and labor.
Afforestation and reforestation activities and programs to
reduce greenhouse gas emissions from deforestation and
forest degradation (REDD), including sustainable forest
management (SFM) and forest restoration, seek to increase
forest carbon sequestration, and their success or failure
will rely in many respects on the effective cooperation of
forest dependent people. These developments are giving
partnerships and benefit-sharing arrangements between local
and outside partners greater prominence than they have
generally had in the past. The significance of these
collaborative arrangements is increasing whether the local
partner is a community, a user or producer association, or a
group of individual landholders, and whether the outside
partner is a private firm, a government agency, or a
nongovernmental or civil society organization. The
arrangements vary widely in purpose as well for the
respective partners. Local partners may be interested in
employment and income generating opportunities, in the
security of their access to forest land, in the protection
of resources that have traditional or other values, or in
capitalizing on small business opportunities. Outside
partners may be interested in gaining and securing access to
forest products, in obtaining the cooperation of local
communities in how forest resources are used, in alleviating
rural poverty, or in managing risks and ensuring the
provision of environmental services.