Local communities are the best forest conservators after all? an interesting trans-national study from the tropics

According to a new report entitled securing rights ,combating climate change published by the world resources institute which collates evidence from several existing studies ,local communities are the best protectors of forest at least for tropical and sub tropical forests excluding the continent of Africa for which no data was available for this study. This came as no surprise to people working with such issues.Indeed other studies in the past have shown this . However as is also apparent the more native the people are to the locality, the better forest protectors they are. Indigenous people are therefore the best protectors and this comes as no surprise as it has been also known to workers of such subjects for many decades. The relevant people involved where apparently startled at how clear the results where and how unquestionable. They pointed however that when communities partner with the state to manage lands belonging to them results are considerably poorer to unacceptable.

                             Deforestation in the Brazilian Amazon, Source: REUTERS news agency

The results are indeed expected because local societies benefit more from these areas as their every day livelihoods depend on them and have cultural and even religious connections to their ancestral lands in a direct and measurable manner.

It is also worth noting that local people where not only found to be the best conservators of native forests preventing deforestation but also the best at reforesting degraded areas.

A video presenting the report to a public audience from across the world can be seen bellow with many useful and interesting discussions in relation to the relevant content.