Community Forests Advance Local Wildfire Governance and Proactive Management in British Columbia, Canada

This paper examines how community forests in British Columbia, Canada, are transforming wildfire governance by shifting away from traditional, centralized, and reactive approaches toward proactive, locally-driven management. The authors highlight that CFs, which are long-term forest tenures managed by Indigenous and/or local communities, act as local leaders in mitigating wildfire risk. Their success hinges on crucial factors such as financial and social capacity, particularly the ability to build trust and strong relationships with both community members and government agencies. Despite persistent challenges, the study concludes that CFs are a critical form of local wildfire governance, effectively implementing diverse strategies and fostering a fire lens in forest management to enhance wildfire resilience across various scales.