A Systematic Review on Community Forest Management in Southeast Asia: Current Practices and Impacts on Biodiversity Conservation and Livelihood Quality of Local Communities

Abstract

The failure of centralized forest management at conserving forests and their biodiversity has made a decentralized forest management approach such as community forest management (CFM) preferable in many parts of the world. In Southeast Asia, however, CFM is relatively new. The aim of this systematic review is to examine current studies of CFM in Southeast Asia pertaining to the impacts on biodiversity conservation and livelihood quality of local communities. The data for this research were taken from citation and scientific literature databases within the 2000–2020 timeframe. Results indicate that research studies on CFM and its impacts are increasing in Southeast Asia in terms of numbers, yet there is a lack of a common terminology throughout the region. This study suggests that knowledge exchange is made possible through CFM, which will empower local communities and increase their awareness of conservation values compatible with their traditional knowledge and their subsistence needs.