Local People's Participation in Forest Management in the Congo Basin: A Review and Evaluation

Abstract

In recent decades, countries in the Congo Basin and international organizations have made efforts to improve participation by local people in the management of forest resources. Despite these efforts, local communities remain marginalized, but the causes of marginalization remain poorly understood. We applied content analysis to 121 academic documents dealing with participatory forest management in the Congo Basin. We evaluated the level and quality of local people's involvement in forest management and identified the key obstacles to public participation in the region. Our six indicators of participation were rated as poor (equity, information, consultation, and transparency) or neutral (inclusiveness and representation). The level of participation of local people in forest management was very low overall. Key obstacles to local people's participation were the non-harmonization of de facto and de jure systems of land use, a lack of consideration of local people's needs caused by top-down management approaches, and the absence of proper monitoring by governments and poor local capacity. Addressing these problems will lead to increased participation by local people in forest management initiatives.