This briefing shows that to ensure long-term benefits for people and forests it is imperative that community forests are grounded in traditional land tenure and forest management systems, as opposed to being driven by outsiders. The briefing also stresses the important role that community mapping can play in this process when it is truly participatory. 

Please download the Document here below:

securing-forests-2019.pdf

If well implemented, new community forest legislation in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) offers an unprecedented opportunity for communities to obtain legal rights to forests they have inhabited for generations and to improve their livelihoods. However, for community forests to deliver equitable and sustainable outcomes there is a need to ensure that they are developed by the communities themselves, to truly address their needs and priorities.

This would represent an important departure from externally-imposed community forest models found elsewhere in the region. MappingForRights aims to support a bottomup approach to community forest management by enabling communities themselves to create highly accurate and detailed maps of their customary lands and resources.

Please download the Document here below:

 securing-forests-2019.pdf

New short film RFUK launched today on its Community Forests project in DRC.

 The film follows five communities in Equateur province as they gain legal titles to their traditional forests and are formally recognised as the managers of these areas. It highlights the importance of engaging every part of the community, including women and youth, who explain in their own words how they hope to use their forests sustainably and preserve them for future generations.

View the New short film RFUK