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.