Local forest communities often lack tenure rights, which results in their marginalisation and the destruction of forests. This is the key message of the recent publication "The End of the Hinterland", compiled by the Rights and Resources Initiative. The paper discusses the significance of indigenous and local forest rights, in the context of climate change and REDD (Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and Forest Degradation).



Governments own about 75 percent of forests worldwide, while only nine percent officially belong to indigenous communities. The authors emphasise the role of unrecognised collective property rights as being responsible for poverty, human rights abuse, inequality, and political exclusion. Yet the struggle of forest communities to gain official recognition of their tenure rights has been partly successful: New Zealand assigned forests to the Maori and India passed a progressive Forest Rights Act. However, the mere existence of legislation does not guarantee its implementation, as a case of irregularly approved logging concessions in Liberia shows.



The hope of industrialised countries for a cheap method of climate protection has moved tropical forests in the focus of international interests. The authors rightly criticise the narrow focus of the REDD debate on the price, which is necessary to render forest conservation attractive. This underestimates the role of governments and governance. The widespread lack of legal clarity and enforcement as well as the rising value of the forests increase the risk of fraud, corruption, violent conflict and the further exploitation of unequal power relations. However, the study also states that indigenous groups today are well organised and the new funding and attention associated with REDD can also bring opportunities: to raise income, and increase real political power and the recognition of their rights. Seizing these opportunities will require a shift from an externally-controlled hinterland to an era of locally-led and democratic forest governance and development. Whether REDD can contribute to that, and actually reduce greenhouse gas emissions and save forests will depend on its potential to reform forest tenure and to respect and reflect local rights. (Felix Ries)



The publication The End of the Hinterland: Forests, Conflict and Climate Change can be downloaded at http://www.rightsandresources.org/documents/files/doc_1400.pdf

Published in: ECC-Newsletter, February 2010