Policy refers to the commitment of people or organization to the laws, regulations, and other green mechanisms concerning environmental issues. Community participation has become important in government, policy makers, and environmentalists over last few decades, and as a result, it is now an established principle as it is widely used not only in academic literature but in policy-making documents, international discussions, as well as in local debates when considering issues dealing with decision-making to achieve sustainable development. Implementation of green policy and community participation programs through representatives—organization, groups of individuals—enhances the benefits of polices and program and adds value to policy as well as making the policy's results and responses more effective and stronger.
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Over the years now, the need to understand community participation and community-based environmental management initiatives have been addressed different studies (Richardson, 2003, Roe, Nelson, Sandbrook, 2009; van Breugel, 2013; Wasilwa, 2015). Community participation is seen as a proven approach to address issues that have been long utilized in application environmental policy and decisions for sustainable development (Bass, Dalal-Clayton and Pretty 1995; Muhanna, 2006; Wasilwa, 2015). Any policy, decision and programs that fail to consider community participation in any environmental issues is attempting impossible solution Irvin and Stansbury, 1996; Ferreira, 1996; Nour, 2011). As a result of this statement, developing countries’ poor communities often argued that environment is an expensive luxury due to lack of community opinion in policy and decisions (Nath, 2001; McCandless and Karbo, 2011; van Breugel, 2013; Happer and Philo, 2013).
Indigenous communities and/or traditional communities around the world have over the centuries developed a close unique connection with the environment – lands and waters around them for their livelihoods (Campese, et al., 2009). These connections have established various bound of participation in various communities. Community Participation is basically concerned with the involvement of individuals, groups and communities in the affairs of managing the environment they live in (Ogunleye-Adetona and Oladeinde, 2013; Aloni et al., 2015; Vanclay et al. 2015). Globally today, Community Participation in environmental issues is being underscored because of the realization of the necessity to involve the stakeholders in the conception of a lasting solution to environmental and human problems (Campese, et al., 2009; Aloni et al., 2015, Ayeni et al., 2016). Human activities intended to improve the socio-economic well-being of man have continue to contribute to the degradation of the environment, therefore, to address, the problems sustainably, major stakeholders in the environment must necessarily be involved (Costanza, et al., 2009; Aloni et al., 2015).