Community forestry is increasingly being recognised as one of the most effective strategies to improve community livelihoods and reduce deforestation. The Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) has recently developed one of the most progressive legal frameworks in Central Africa for community forestry, and holds tens of millions of hectares that communities could claim for this purpose.

As community forestry initiatives rapidly spread across the globe, there is a growing body of knowledge and experience. The dissemination of these learnings is critical to identify best practices, opportunities and challenges. In recognition of this, the Congolese government has agreed to put in place an experimental approach, enshrined in a long term National Strategy. This looks to roll out community forests gradually, promote learning by doing, and improve laws and practice in the process.

Seeking to contribute to these efforts, the Community Forestry Resources Library is a repository of key documents - including academic papers, case studies and legal and official texts - for everyone to use and learn from. Its aim is to concentrate resources being generated in DRC and Central Africa, as well as useful experiences from around the world more generally, to replicate successful approaches and avoid known pitfalls in the ongoing development of community forests in DRC.

Whilst it focuses primarily on the Democratic Republic of Congo, this library also benefits from our work in the Central African Republic, and includes documents on community forestry initiatives from across the globe.

We hope the Resources Library proves a helpful tool for you. If you can’t find what you’re looking for, or have suggestions for documents to upload, please contact us.

For more information on our work on community forestry, please visit: rainforestfoundationuk.org

The Resources Library has been funded by the UK government. The information contained within is the sole responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily reflect the UK government’s official policies.