CIFOR's ACM program has been carrying out participatory action research with local communities to devise models for forest management by multiple stakeholders. One of the early requests by communities has been for the mapping of their villages. This report describes the facilitation team's observations during the process of mapping these territories (villages along the Malinau river, Kalimantan, Indonesia). Central theme is the question what caused conflicts within and between villages and how were these handled and overcome by the communities.

This concept paper addresses those elements in the people-forest interface which we perceive as critical to sustainable forest management, based on our own training and experience, as well as two field tests of the conceptual framework (in Kalimantan and Côte d'Ivoire ). Initially, we define our use of important terms, like sustainability, well being/needs, and people; and make clear some of our assumptions.

This paper examines poverty and deforestation in developing countries as linked problems and focuses on policies that can favour poverty alleviation in forested regions. The paper encompasses two elements: analysis of the spatial coincidence between poverty and forests, and proposed policy options for reducing poverty in forested areas.

This paper examines poverty and deforestation in developing countries as linked problems and focuses on policies that can favour poverty alleviation in forested regions. The paper encompasses two elements: analysis of the spatial coincidence between poverty and forests, and proposed policy options for reducing poverty in forested areas.

Who counts most? Assessing human well being in sustainable forest management presents a tool, 'the Who Counts Matrix', for differentiating 'forest actors', or people whose well-being and forest management are intimately intertwined, from other stakeholders. The authors argue for focusing formal attention on forest actors in efforts to develop sustainable forest management.