Colonial legacies in tropical forestry hinder good management

Abstract

Forest restoration and management have huge potential to contribute to climate, biodiversity and sustainability goals; and countless projects to plant trees and conserve forests are underway on the African continent. Unfortunately, forest management and governance are plagued by policies and practices handed down from colonialism that impede innovation and progress.

To colonial powers, natural forests were sources of luxury timber for export, and forestry departments were sources of revenue¹. Colonial forestry laws and codes were not created to manage forests sustainably, but to define who could access the benefits (that is, harvest, transport and market commercially valuable timber)². Local people were seen as competition and relegated to only subsistence use of forest resources^2,3. Forestry departments were primarily administrative — issuing permits and penalties².