| (a) | to do anything in a State forest for which a licence is required; |
| (b) | to manage a State forest or part of it, whether alone or jointly with an organ of State; or |
may make an offer to the Minister to enter into a community forestry agreement with him or her and any other person or organ of State who must by law consent.
| (2) | The Minister may invite communities to submit offers to enter into community forestry agreements in respect of a particular State forest or forests. |
| (3) | The offer must include— |
| (a) | details of the membership of the community; |
| (b) | a copy or details of the constitution, laws or customs which regulate the community; |
| (c) | the terms of its offer; |
| (d) | details of any rights held by the community or any of its members in the State forest concerned in terms of the Interim Protection of Informal Land Rights Act, 1996 (Act No. 31 of 1996); and |
| (e) | any other prescribed information. |
| (4) | The Minister must investigate the offer and may in doing so— |
| (a) | establish whether or not there are any other communities who may wish to make offers to enter into a community forestry agreement in respect of the forest in question; |
| (b) | invite such communities to make offers; |
| (c) | consult with any other persons or organs of State having an interest in the matter; |
| (d) | evaluate the suitability of the forest for community forestry in comparison to its current or potential uses; |
| (e) | establish whether or not any offeror is willing to amend the terms of its offer to accommodate any concerns of the Minister and, if so, invite the offeror to amend it; |
| (f) | in the event of competing offers, evaluate which offers or offerors are the most suitable; and |
| (g) | appoint a facilitator from the panel referred to in section 45 to attempt to secure agreement between competing offerors. |
