In many regions of the world, forest activities are carried out by the rural population on collective lands and by individual farmers on agroforestry or farm forestry plots. These types of forest activities play an important role in sustaining rural communities. The management of the related wooded areas is usually based on traditional local knowledge which is particularly adapted to the ecological and socio-economic conditions of the area. The common feature of all these different practices is that they are carried out at a small-scale level, with adaptive management. The management of forests are, however, also influenced by broader regional, national and international policies, which are almost always developed remote from the local areas in which they are to be implemented. These ‘global’ policies often present an abstract and even sometimes idealistic vision of the role of the forests in rural development, and may propose means and mechanisms which are not fitting to the real issues faced by rural communities in managing their forests. In addition, despite a rich heritage of traditional forest knowledge in many regions, forest administrators, managers and policy makers are often not aware of this knowledge base and do not consider it in their decisions. This conference will explore the important role of local knowledge in managing small-scale rural forests and the impacts or implications of broader ‘global’ policies on small-scale rural forestry.
