A case for indigenous community forestry

Abstract

Local control, benefits, and values are core principles of indigenous community forestry, which is a relevant management model for North America where communities and forests increasingly face competing and complex demands. In this article, we discuss the core principles and supporting conditions of indigenous community forestry in the context of Manitoba, Canada, where indigenous and forestry issues are closely connected. We characterize indigenous involvement in forest management in Canada to highlight the significance of forest-community connections and link recent developments to the Manitoba context to consider the potential for indigenous community forestry based on existing conditions, forest development opportunities, and needs.