Scaling up from the grassroots and the top down: The impacts of multi-level governance on community forestry in Durango, Mexico

Abstract

This paper analyzes the local-level impacts of cross-scale linkages in Mexican community forestry by evaluating the operation of four inter-community forest associations (FAs). Based on one year of fieldwork in Durango, Mexico, the paper focuses on two inter-related issues: (1) the services that each association provides to their member communities and how they impact forest management and the development of communities’ forestry enterprises, and (2) the differences in services and impacts between top-down and bottom-up FAs. The findings show that FAs, as a form of cross-scale linkage, can be crucial for the provision of services, goods and infrastructure related to the protection and enhancement of community forests, the economic development of community enterprises, and the political representation of these communities. At the same time, the study finds important differences between top-down and bottom-up FAs, while pointing to some of the disadvantages of each type of linkage.