Plural values of forests and the formation of collective capabilities: learnings from Mexico’s community forestry

ABSTRACT Community forestry has been suggested as a viable alternative to balance the needs of people and forest sustainability. Drawing upon analytical frameworks of environmental justice, we explore how community forestry has reshaped the plural values of forest and the collective capacities of communities. Based on an ethnographic study in a community in Oaxaca, we investigate the plural values of forests presented in the daily practices of community members and how such values are recognized in decision-making spaces. In our analysis two key aspects are considered: deliberation and social accountability. The study shows that deliberation in the community has mainly focused on assessing the instrumental values placed on the forest and expanding the economic capacities of the community. Social accountability is prominent in the community but is still limited due to limited access of community members to accountability in multilevel governance. We conclude that deliberation and social accountability as collective capacities are crucial for evaluating the actions and performances of the authorities and representatives, and for appraisal of the shared values community members hold of forests. Yet the exclusion of women from spaces of decision-making limits the recognition of the plural values of forests.