Transforming tenure in Guatemala

It is estimated that 27 per cent of forests in developing countries are owned or controlled by communities. But what does this mean in practice? A global research project, coordinated by CIFOR with the support of the Right and Resources Initiative, is providing some of the answers.

One particular study, funded by the World Bank, the Ford Foundation and the International Development Research Centre, looked at two very different regions in Guatemala, one in the lowlands, the other in the highlands. The researchers studied the nature of tenure reforms, the role communities played in making the reforms happen, and the problems they face in establishing and managing community forests.

‘One of the clear messages to come out of our research, here and elsewhere in Latin America,‘ explains CIFOR associate scientist Anne Larson, ‘is that collective action by community organisations and networks has been essential in gaining and maintaining tenure rights and access to forest resources.’

A series of workshops, attended by representatives of 427 community organisations, led to the creation of a national platform in July 2009. The platform campaigns for the reform of forest regulations that fail to take into account the needs and aspirations of local communities. It also seeks to ensure that communities have a strong say in decision making. And the government is certainly listening. It is financing some of the platform’s activities and has appointed an official to liaise with its members.