Poor Farmers and Fragmented Forests in Central America

While the ecosystem approach is a relatively new concept in Central America, many of its principles have already been adopted in sustainable forest management (SFM) initiatives in the region. However, implementation of ecosystem approaches and SFM in the short and medium term face many challenges. These include high population growth, high deforestation rates, small and stagnant economies, rural poverty and weak institutions. If ecosystem approaches are to become firmly established in the region, these social, economic and institutional constraints will need to be tackled head-on.