Community-based forestry (CBF) is a crucial approach to the global fight against climate change, biodiversity loss, and rural poverty. Across West Africa and other tropical regions, many forests are managed and protected by the communities who depend on them. But these communities often face challenges in securing their rights, sustaining livelihoods, and influencing policy decisions that affect their lands.
This is where South–South cooperation matters. Peer exchange between countries with shared challenges - whether in Africa, Asia, or Latin America - can lead to faster, smarter solutions. It builds solidarity, promotes practical learning, and enables adaptation of proven models across contexts.
From 26 to 29 May 2025, over 80 participants gathered in Praia, Cabo Verde, for the South-South Knowledge Exchange on Community-Based Forestry: From West Africa to the World . Delegates included community leaders, government officials, forestry experts, women's cooperatives, civil society, and members of regional and international organizations. Participants came from 15 West African countries - Benin, Burkina Faso, Cabo Verde, Côte d’Ivoire, the Gambia, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau, Liberia, Mali, Niger, Nigeria, Senegal, Sierra Leone, and Togo, as well as Brazil, Cameroon, Guatemala, Nepal, Indonesia, and Zambia.
The exchange also welcomed representatives from regional and international organizations such as the Regional Community Forestry Training Center for Asia and the Pacific (RECOFTC), Coordination for the Articulation of Rural Black Quilombola Communities (CONAQ, Brazil), the ASEAN Working Group on Social Forestry (AWG-SF), and the African Women’s Network for Community Management of Forests (REFACOF) among others.
The event was convened by the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in partnership with the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida), the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), as part of the project Global Transformation of Forests for People and Climate: Focus on West Africa and in association with the UN-REDD Programme.
Purpose and objectives
The four-day exchange served as both a celebration and a working space - a moment to pause, reflect, and map out the next chapter for community-based forestry in the region and worldwide. The event created a rare opportunity for dialogue between grassroots leaders and policy actors. Throughout the week, three core objectives guided the sessions:
- Share good practices and lessons from CBF in West Africa and beyond. Participants brought a wide array of experiences - from managing dryland restoration in the Sahel to running women-led forest enterprises in the Amazon.
- Promote learning and collaboration among countries in Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The exchange connected grassroots practitioners, national governments, and regional bodies. It encouraged peer-to-peer learning among countries such as Brazil, Nepal, Liberia, and Zambia, demonstrating how shared challenges can be addressed through collective solutions.
- Identify pathways for scaling up CBF through stronger networks, financing, and policy support. Participants discussed Communities’ governance and self-sufficiency, the role of women, the power of alliances and networks.
Opening session and celebration of community-based forestry
The opening day featured keynote remarks from high-level representatives of the Government of Cabo Verde, FAO, Sida, and ECOWAS. Minister Gilberto Silva, Cabo Verde’s Minister of Agriculture and Environment, welcomed participants and reaffirmed the country’s commitment to sustainable forest management as a pillar of both climate action and rural development. Ms. Moshibudi Rampedi, FAO Representative ad interim for Cabo Verde, emphasized the significance of community-based forestry in achieving sustainable development goals, noting its role in creating jobs, fostering environmental stewardship, and ensuring rural voices shape the future of forestry in the country.
The day continued with a brief overview of the different forms of community-based forestry , showing how models range around the world from fully community-led to more state-supported systems. This led into an interactive exercise using a spectrum, where each country placed themselves based on their current approach.
Following the CBF session , participants took part in a celebratory moment that set the tone for the week. FAO officially unveiled a new series of multimedia profiles , each highlighting a community-based forestry initiative from one of the 15 West African countries. Created through months of field visits, interviews, and visual documentation, the profiles bring to light the voices, challenges, and innovations of the communities driving these efforts.
