This case study discusses decentralisation and forest management in Kapuas district, Central Kalimantan, focusing specifically on the impact of these administrative reforms on timber concessions operating there. It is based on field research carried out during June and July 2000. The study is based on interviews with government officials, forestry department staff, university researchers, NGO workers and the employees of timber workers in the provincial capital, Palangkaraya, and the district capital, Kuala Kapuas.

This study examines the preliminary impacts of Indonesia's decentralization process on the administration and management of forest resources in Ketapang District, West Kalimantan. The case study is based on field work carried out in mid-2000, using a rapid appraisal methodology. The report covers the impacts of decentralization in three areas, in particular: customary adat communities, oil palm and rubber plantations, and conservation issues related to Gunung Palang National Park.

Kotawaringin Timur district lies within the Dayak heartland of Central Borneo, Indonesia. Prior to the late 1960s, most of the district was covered in dense tropical forest. However, these forests have been increasingly exploited since the 1970s when former-president Soeharto granted large timber concessions to logging companies in the area. Although Kotawaringin Timur’s forests still supply 49 percent of Central Kalimantan’s log production and half of its sawn timber and moulding, its forest resources are close to being exhausted.

This report explores criteria and indicators (C&I) for monitoring and assessing the sustainability of community managed forests (CMFs), and offers some insights into methodological tools and conceptual approaches for C&I development. The research was intended to explore the potential value of C&I to forest communities, their partners and their representative organisations to legitimise and enhance management, including strengthening of control over forest resources and facilitating the equitable distribution of the costs and benefits of forest management.

The study provides a comparative analysis of the devolution and empowerment process in 14 case studies drawn from eight countries in southern Africa. Each case study examined the extent to which policy and legislation devolves significant control over decision making and benefit flows to communities; the legitimacy and power of different community institutions and their relationship with other stakeholders such as local authority structures, NGOs, donor agencies, and the private sector; and lastly the relationship and divisions between different actors and groupings in the community.