Community Forests (CFs) aim to improve human wellbeing and conservation effectiveness, though their performance remains contested. A recent innovation in protected area (PA) governance is to combine CFs with forest certification. We assess (1) the impact of certified CFs on wellbeing (2) gender inequality and elite capture; (3) interaction effects with neighbouring national PAs. We used a novel approach that integrates field data consisting of locally identified indicators representative of multidimensional wellbeing. We found that CFs positively impacted wellbeing and reduced gender inequality, though did not reduce elite capture. We also detected positive interaction effects between certified CFs and neighbouring national PAs. Our findings suggest that locating contrasting local and national PA governance approaches next to each other may help to maximise wellbeing benefits within complex multi-use landscapes.PhD research project exploring the human wellbeing and conservation impacts of community forests with forest certification in Tanzania

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