Problems with governance of forests are closely linked to incompatible interests between different stakeholders. Having a clearer understanding of the relative importance of forest landscape functions among stakeholders can bring much clarity about why governance problems persist. The voice of the weakest actors is often insufficiently heard in decision-making processes that affect how stakeholders can use forests.

Las iniciativas para reducir las emisiones de la deforestación y la degradación forestal (REDD) dependerán fundamentalmente de la población rural para manejar los recursos forestales. Aunque el diseño de marcos, mecanismos y acuerdos para implementar los programas de REDD ha sido objeto de considerable atención, todavía no está claro cómo funcionará REDD+ en la práctica y cómo se garantizará la participación de la población local.

Criteria and indicators (C&I) have been worldwide accepted as a way to conceptualize and measure sustainability of forest management. Various C&I sets or standards were formulated by different organizations and processes such as ITTO, CIFOR, FSC, ATO and Montréal Process. These standards, particularly in the production aspect, underline the sustained forest yield principle and the importance of using permanent sample plot data to regulate forest yield.

This simple manual is intended for general guidelines on traditional methods in managing natural resources. It is based on the indigenous/traditional knowledge of people of Dayak Kenyah Uma' Jalan society, East Kutai, Kalimantan, Indonesia. Local traditional knowledge is one of the important components to utilise and conserve the natural resources. This manual shows how to prepare the land for planting food crops, community forest management procedures and fire prevention.

CIFOR has been actively engaged in field research in Indonesia focussing particularly on the role of forests and forest products in generating sustainable livelihoods for local users. Issues such as incentives and institutional structures for equitable and sustainable management systems have been highlighted in this research, which has been undertaken with the active co-operation of local NGOs.

This occasional paper is the result of research carried out from 2006 to 2008 on the effects of new tenure rights for forest-based communities in Latin America on access to forest resources and benefits. Focused on seven different regions in four countries, the paper examines changes in statutory rights, the implementation of those rights in practice, and the extent to which they have led to tangible new benefits from forests, particularly to new sources of income.

Andrew P. Vayda, drawing on his long experience in studying the relations between people and their environments, addresses here the question of how human influences can be better incorporated into ecological studies. Citing relevant sources from the literature of philosophy as well as social and biological science, he argues that we should be guided in our research by the goal of giving causal explanations of concrete human behaviour and its concrete environmental effects.

Governments in many countries are decentralising to give more control over decision making and budgets to local administrations. One expectation of this change is that local governments will more effectively and efficiently respond to the poorest citizens in their jurisdictions. Decentralisation is especially significant to forest communities, which have historically benefited little from government services and poverty reduction programmes because of their physical isolation and social marginalisation.