Community-Managed Forests Preserve More Trees Than Government Protected Areas, Study Says

A new study done by the Center for International Forestry Research, published in Forest Ecology and Management looked at 40 protected areas and 33 community-managed forests in 16 nations. The community forests only lost 0.24% of forest cover per year, while the government-protected areas lost an average of 1.47% annually.

As for the reason why the community-managed forests fared better on average, the study says involving the community in conservation not only (perhaps obviously) increases local participation, but it also reduces poverty and provides greater economic opportunities.