Breaking Walls, Building Bridges: Conflict Management in the Tropical Timber Industry

Clashing interests and values over the use of forestland, the rapid rise in consumption of timber products and weak governance of forest resources drive the emergence and escalation of conflicts between the timber industry and local communities living in and around forests. What does this mean for the timber industry, and how can companies deal with conflicts with local communities living in and around forests? This brief examines the cause and effect of conflicts between the tropical timber industry and local communities over forestland in Asia and the Pacific, providing practical steps that timber companies and local communities can adopt to manage conflict.