Rethinking community conservation and forest governance in the Peruvian Amazon

Community-based conservation and community forest management (CC-CFM) have become central pillars of present-day forest governance, particularly in tropical regions where Indigenous peoples and local communities play a vital role in conserving forest resources. Despite widespread adoption and strong normative support, many CC-CFM initiatives struggle to deliver lasting conservation outcomes. This thesis investigates why such efforts often fall short and how conservation design can better align with the socio-ecological systems (SES) in which they operate.

The thesis argues that a key challenge in advancing CC-CFM lies in the limited understanding of the complexity and dynamism of local SES. Conservation policies and projects are frequently designed as standardized models, based on fixed assumptions about governance, incentives, and compliance. However, local forest governance systems are shaped by interacting social, institutional, ecological, and historical factors that vary substantially across contexts and change over time. When conservation designs fail to account for this complexity, they often struggle to fit local realities, undermining legitimacy, effectiveness, and long-term sustainability.

Drawing on empirical research with Indigenous peoples and local communities in the Peruvian Amazon, this thesis examines how internal community characteristics and contextual factors shape the capacity for effective forest management within diverse SES. The analysis focuses in particular on internal governance capacity, including the presence of clear local rules, legitimate and context-appropriate enforcement mechanisms, and functioning leadership and institutions. The findings demonstrate that communities with strong internal governance arrangements are more likely to achieve positive conservation outcomes, even in situations where formal land tenure is weak or incomplete. Conversely, secure tenure alone does not guarantee effective forest management in the absence of these internal capacities.

A central contribution of the thesis is its analysis of enforcement practices as a key institutional component of SES. The research shows that effective enforcement is highly context-dependent and adapts to local social relations, ecological conditions, market pressures, and histories of interaction with the state. Uniform enforcement models imposed from outside frequently fail to gain local legitimacy and may weaken existing governance arrangements. In contrast, conservation approaches that recognize and build upon locally embedded rules and enforcement practices tend to perform better.

Overall, the thesis advances a context-sensitive perspective on CC-CFM grounded in SES thinking. It highlights the importance of moving beyond one-size-fits-all conservation blueprints toward adaptive and enabling approaches that engage with the diversity and dynamism of local socio-ecological systems. By foregrounding institutional fit and internal governance capacity, the research contributes to ongoing debates on how conservation policies and projects can more effectively support community-led forest management.