Sustainable Forest Management, Biodiversity and Livelihoods: a good Practice Guide

The role of indigenous and local communities

• Forests are home to an estimated 60 million indigenous people, who are directly dependent on forest resources and the health of forest ecosystems for their livelihoods.
• The cultural and spiritual identity of Indigenous Peoples is often linked to intact primary forests with their rich biodiversity.
• In the Amazon basin, for example, knowledge of the medicinal, nutritional and cultural uses of over 1,300 different forest plants is common in local indigenous communities.
• Forest operations, as well as landscape-level planning, should take into account both the rights and traditional knowledge of indigenous and local communities.
• The main principle for achieving this is through the effective participation of indigenous peoples and local stakeholders in decision-making and governance processes, on the basis of free, prior and informed consent to any projects, plans or changes that affect their communities, traditional lifestyles, and environment.
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