Public innovation and changes in communal access to timber in the northern Bolivian Amazon. (1st December 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Cano, W.; Van de Rijt, A.; de Jong, W.; Pacheco, P.
• Is Part Of: International forestry review. Volume 21:Number 4(2019)
• Page Start: 432
• Page End: 445
• Publication Date: 2019-12-01
• Subjects: 634.9
• DOI: 10.1505/146554819827906816
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 2053-7778

Abstract

The paper assesses the effects of public innovation initiated by demands from communities in the northern Bolivian Amazon to revise forest regulations and policies. Bolivia enacted wide-reaching land and forest reforms in the mid-1990s, but these reforms were insufficient to tackle competing claims on forests and exclusion of local forest users from benefiting from timber production. Pressures by forest communities resulted in significant adjustments in regulations and policies, and the main driver was social pressure from communities as well as their representatives. The adjustments have allowed communal local practices, which were previously illegal, to become legal. They have allowed communities access to timber markets, improve incomes, and enhanced compliance with timber regulations.