The World’s Best Forest Guardians: Indigenous Peoples
Indigenous peoples and local communities have an unsurpassed connection to the Earth's forests.
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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
Community: The Secret to Stopping Deforestation in Guatemala
The forest concessions of the Maya Biosphere Reserve have boasted a near-zero deforestation rate for 20 years.
Project Profile: Stopping deforestation and improving livelihoods with community forestry in the Congo Basin
Sitting in the heart of the Congo Basin, the 36,000 square kilometer Salonga National Park (SNP) is the largest protected area of dense rainforest on the African continent.
The Rainforest Alliance's Work in Mexico
We are working to grow Mexico’s domestic market for sustainably produced products.
All resources for Community forestry
2020-2025 Strategy: Guatemala’s Maya Biosphere Reserve
For rural, isolated communities in Guatemala, natural capital is the people’s greatest wealth. Since 1997, the Rainforest Alliance has worked with community forestry concessions to strengthen their organizational and technical capacity to manage natural resources in ways that protect and restore forests while developing successful businesses which offer a diverse set of high-value products and […]
Opinion: Let’s Show Our Children We Can Do More Than Talk on Climate Change
Santiago Gowland, Chief Executive Officer of the Rainforest Alliance, explains that investing in nature can help shift the climate crisis.
Two New Kleinhans Fellows Will Investigate Forest Governance and Community-Centered Conservation in Latin America
The Rainforest Alliance is pleased to announce two new Kleinhans Fellows for 2021. ... Continue Reading
2020 Annual Report: We Thrive Together
Explore our achievements and discover what gave us energy and hope in 2020—a year unlike any other.
Supporting Community Forest Management and Enterprise: Eight Lessons from Twenty Years of Global Experience
Our early experience supporting established community forest enterprises in Mesoamerica has long informed our forest strategy in other parts of the world. As our work has expanded to regions where forest rights are less secure and community forestry is a more incipient practice, we recognize the need for a holistic approach that aligns with our […]
Integrated Community Forest Management Position Paper
Conserving forests is at the heart of the Rainforest Alliance’s mission. This paper outlines our principles and strategies for stopping forest degradation and supporting forest communities in vulnerable tropical regions. These include our pathway towards integrated community forest management. This approach recognizes the interdependency of local communities’ livelihoods and their natural environment, and helps create […]