Community Forestry with RECOFTC: Protecting People and Forests Jennifer Keeley Bangkok, Thailand

About RECOFTC Originally the Regional Community Forestry Training Center Re-branded as the Center for People and Forests, not just training anymore Founded in 1987 HQ in Bangkok, Thailand Focal Countries: Cambodia, Laos, China, Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia Active also in: Nepal and Papua New Guinea

Community Forestry Explained A national forest system will not work in many developing nations, community forestry is a new way to look at forest preservation People depend on the forest and the forest is better protected when the community has acknowledged ownership

Their Work in Cambodia Capacity Building for Sustainable Forest and Land Management Project Of all community forests with signed agreements in Cambodia, 51% of them have had support from this project Project encompassed 262 community forests, 451 villages, and 59,442 families

RECOFTC’s Role My Internship Helps communities understand what needs to be done to gain ownership of their forest Provides local government officials with the training they need to help communities in the process They are the “middle man” Communications Department Copy edited publications Helped launch their new website Organized the photo library Took a field visit for one week in Cambodia Authored a series of articles documenting success stories from our project in Cambodia

The Human Side of Community Forestry

Thanks! To PEI for the funding to make this possible To Princeton in Asia for all their help setting up and getting me through the summer And to the entire RECOFTC team For more information visit