State, forest and community: decentralization of forest administration in Guatemala.

Abstract

The recent political decentralization of forest administration in Guatemala is a complex process involving a diverse set of actors and management practices. Communal and regional forestlands have been historically considered ‘open access’ by a state that has systematically ignored ancestral land and citizenship rights and destroyed local communities. However, local forest management has been effectively practised since the colonial period. Especially in Guatemala’s Western Highlands, community groups have struggled to maintain access and control over their lands and natural resources, and defended communal property, traditional knowledges and customary rights, and local government systems. Government initiatives during the past decade have promoted the deconcentration of forest regulation to the municipal level. At the same time, local communities are demanding recognition and restitution of ancestral rights over land and natural resources, including national, communal and municipal forests. Community forestry in Guatemala faces many challenges, especially in the areas of social inequality and democratization. Experiences discussed here from several communities in the Western Highlands illustrate the local issues and institutional capacities in the current process of decentralization. For decentralization of the forest sector to fulfill its objectives of controlling deforestation and environmental degradation, it is necessary to establish a better balance of power, to empower local organizations and to increase capacity for local management regimes in communities and municipalities.