From exclusion to participation: Turning Senegal's forestry policy around?

A century of centralized forestry policies has excluded Senegal's forest villagers from charcoal production and marketing. Policies have given access to marketing and labor opportunities to urbanbased merchants who hire Guinean migrant laborers. While forest villagers neither produce nor consume charcoal, commercial production is cutting forests on which villagers rely. In 1993, progressive forestry agents ushered in a new "participatory" forestry code. But, this new policy may not be equitable nor beneficial, and it risks adding control over village labor (for forest management) to the long list of Forest Service controls. Locally accountable representation, local decision-making powers and simple local management enabling policies could diminish these risks.