Community forestry

Indigenous people have lived from the forest since time immemorial, using its resources sparingly and carefully so that it might continue to produce its riches. What the Rainforest Alliance brings to this age-old model are the tools and support to make it economically viable in today’s world. We connect local and indigenous communities with markets, provide technical and business support, and work to improve human well-being—all while conserving the forest.

This page features information about the Rainforest Alliance's work to promote community forestry and links to all our related content and resources.

Working with forest communities, governments, companies, and civil society organizations, we promote more sustainable forest management practices throughout the tropics. We provide training, tools, and knowledge to communities; promote youth inclusion and gender equality; work to increase forest cover, biodiversity, and carbon capture; promote secured rights to forests; and provide access to alliances, finance, and markets, so that forest communities—and forests—may thrive.

Quick Links

Integrated Community Forest Management Position Paper

This paper outlines our principles and strategies for stopping forest degradation and supporting forest communities in vulnerable tropical regions.

KLEINHANS FELLOWSHIP FOR COMMUNITY FORESTRY RESEARCH

Our Kleinhans Fellowship supports research that seeks solutions to the challenges faced by the community forestry model.

HOW OUR FOREST ALLIES WORK TOGETHER TO SUPPORT THRIVING RURAL COMMUNITIES

Our Forest Allies initiative leverages the enormous power of our partnerships to support forest communities as they address the climate crisis and combat deforestation.

Eight Lessons from Supporting Community Forest Management and Enterprises

This paper summarizes our lessons learnt from twenty years of global experience in community forestry.

Our Work: Community forestry

All resources for Community forestry

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Successful 20 Years of Community Forest Management in Guatemala Informs an Integrated Community Forest Management Pathway to Support Scaling

This article published by the World Forestry Congress XV (Republic of Korea, 2022) summarizes the Rainforest Alliance’s work in the Maya Biosphere Reserve in Guatemala, our learnings, and our approach to scaling up community forestry. This paper aims to spark discussion about the guiding principles of integrated community forest management. The Rainforest Alliance invites partners […]

White Paper
May 23, 2022

Integrated Community Forest Management Monitoring and Evaluation Tool

This tool has been developed by the Rainforest Alliance with support from IIED (Victor Milla, Duncan Macqueen) and field tested by the Rainforest Alliance in Indonesia, Guatemala and Cameroon, to implement community based monitoring in our community forest projects, in particular those supported by the Forest Allies initiative. It is based on the four pillars […]

Resource item
April 21, 2022

Join Forest Allies

Through the Forest Allies community of practice, we can help your company: Invest in forest conservation and restoration beyond your operations. Recognize Indigenous Peoples and local communities as effective forest stewards and future business partners. Collaborate with a range of stakeholders to leverage the impact of your investment. Forest Allies brings together companies, regional civil […]

Sell Sheet
March 4, 2022

Natural Climate Solutions: Tackling the Dual Threats of Climate Change and Rural Poverty

Our future climate stability depends on achieving net-zero emissions as quickly as possible, and natural climate solutions are essential to reaching that goal. The Rainforest Alliance is positioned for impact in this space—working across 70 countries and global supply chains in many of the most critically important natural landscapes throughout Latin America, Africa, and Asia. […]

One sheets
February 3, 2022