Community forest enterprises (CFEs) trade to meet the economic, social, and environmental challenges of their community, just as Social Enterprises (SE) do. The question is if CFEs also could and should be understood in terms of SEs. To explore this question, this study determines the extent to which CFEs can be classified as SEs, using CFEs in Cameroon as a case study. Based on the three-dimensional EMES framework in combination with the typology of SEs of Alter, CFEs are classified along a continuum of purely non-profits, non-profits with income-generating activities, and SEs. Document review, interviews, and focus group discussions with CFE management, youths, women, and indigenous groups in 38 communities were used for data collection and subsequently analyzed. Of the 38 CFEs investigated, only 11% could be defined as SEs, 63% are non-profit organizations with income-generating activities and 26% operate as traditional non-profit organizations. The majority of the CFEs (63%) engage in commercial activities for revenue generation but lack the skills and organizational setup to employ full business approaches coupled with financial discipline and community ownership, which are core values of SEs. Operating as SEs would permit CFEs to be financially and environmentally sustainable and thus they could easily contribute to community development. However, moving CFEs from “non-profits with income generation” to SEs requires (i) a change in mindset, (ii) evaluation and building of community capacity for CFE development, (iii) proper research on tensions and paradoxes with actionable solutions, and (iv) sectorial coordination for CFE development, support, and creation of CFE incubation centers.

社区森林企业 (CFE) 进行贸易是为了应对社区的经济、社会和环境挑战，就像社会企业 (SE) 一样。问题是 CFE 是否也可以并且应该从 SE 的角度来理解。为了探讨这个问题，本研究以喀麦隆的 CFE 作为案例研究，确定了 CFE 可被归类为 SE 的程度。基于三维 EMES 框架并结合 Alter 的 SE 类型学，CFE 被分为纯非营利、具有创收活动的非营利和 SE 的连续体。与 CFE 管理层、青年、妇女和 38 个社区的土著团体的文件审查、访谈和焦点小组讨论被用于数据收集并随后进行分析。在调查的 38 个 CFE 中，只有 11% 可以定义为 SE，63% 是从事创收活动的非营利组织，26% 是传统的非营利组织。大多数 CFE (63%) 从事商业活动以创收，但缺乏技能和组织设置来采用完整的业务方法以及财务纪律和社区所有权，这是 SE 的核心价值观。作为 SE 运营将使 CFE 在财务和环境上具有可持续性，因此它们可以轻松地为社区发展做出贡献。然而，将 CFE 从“具有创收的非营利组织”转变为 SE 需要 (i) 转变思维方式，(ii) 评估和建设 CFE 发展的社区能力，(iii) 对紧张局势和悖论进行适当的研究，并提供可行的解决方案， (iv) CFE 发展、支持、