Decentralised forest management: towards a utopian realism

Abstract

The utopian impulse is the human longing to build the best of all possible worlds imaginable through social theories, policy discourses, legal texts, and institutional structures. The utopian impulse is evident in the meta‐narratives behind human institutions. In developing countries includingCameroon, the utopian impulse has influenced the transition from fortress conservation to contemporary decentralised forestry paradigm. Decentralised forestry not only wishes to save the forest but calls for an equitable and just forestry sector. Decentralised forestry at its core is a utopian vision for a best of all possible worlds imaginable for forest‐dependent people. However, utopia inspires both loyalty and opposition; it enchants and threatens all at once. It is therefore not surprising that contemporary decentralised forestry paradigm, with its lofty rhetoric of social justice as integral to saving the tropical forest, has faced opposition. This article argues that insights from utopian studies would help decentralised forestry advocates to be better prepared to respond to opposition they experience in their work.With commentary by Asiyanbi (2015)