Developing community-based forest enterprises (CBFEs) is an ideal development intervention in poor forest communities as they have the potential to generate income and employment for the poor while supporting sustainable management of forest resources. This potential is limited by various constraints, many of which are unique to forestbased enterprises.

With around half of its land area still forested, Meghalaya – one of the eight states of Northeastern India - has high potential for the development of forest-based enterprises. There are, however, various constraints to the development of forest-based enterprises as demonstrated by the noticeable underdevelopment of industries in the state and the dearth of information regarding the status of existing forest-based industries - an important element to guiding targeted interventions.

The most prominent international responses to climate change focus on mitigation (reducing the accumulation of greenhouse gases) rather than adaptation (reducing the vulnerability of society and ecosystems). However, with climate change now inevitable, adaptation is gaining importance in the policy arena, and is an integral part of ongoing negotiations towards an international framework.