For one week in July 2007" the Brazilian city of Rio Branco" in the heart of the Amazon" became the community forestry capital of the world. Participants from 40 countries came together to explore the emerging phenomenon of community-based forest enterprises (CFEs)--dynamic" small-scale businesses that are starting to tap the huge wealth of entrepreneurial talent that exists in forest-dwelling communities.

The International Conference on Community Forest Management and Enterprise was unusual in many ways. For the first time" it brought together about 300 leaders and supporters of CFEs and government policy-makers from across three tropical regions. Much of the work was done in small working groups with informal" simultaneous interpretation in four languages. The conference also produced the Rio Branco Declaration" delivering a message from community conference participants directly to policy-makers" international organizations and communities worldwide.

The conference was organized by the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO)" the Rights and Resources Initative" and the Global Alliance of Community Forestry (GACF) in cooperation with IUCN - World Conservation Union. It was hosted by the Government of Acre and the Government of Brazil through the newly created Brazilian Forest Service.

• Agenda

• Conference Proceedings  - Tropical Forest Update: Tapping the potential of communities

• Event Summary (Four pages)
• Presentations
• Conference Participants List
  
  
  

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Main Report

Case studies

Read the news release from the ITTO here.