The global dialogue surrounding the
United Nations framework convention for climate change has
focused on two strategies for addressing challenges
associated with climate change: (1) mitigation (reducing the
accumulation of greenhouse gases (GHG) in the atmosphere);
and (2) adaptation (reducing the vulnerability of societies
and ecosystems to the impacts of climate change). Forests
feature in both of these strategies. The role of forests as

This report is based on seven background
papers comprising household studies, national level
analyses, and technical assessments. Household studies were
undertaken in Mozambique and Zambia to develop a clearer
picture of the role of Miombo woodlands in household
consumption. These studies were an outcome of intensive,
seasonal structured household surveys, which have formed the
core of the original work supported by this project

Payments for Environmental Services
(PES) are one of the instruments that countries might use to
try to reduce deforestation, and hence receive payments for
Reduced Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation
(REDD). This paper discusses four aspects related to the use
of PES as an instrument to implement an avoided
deforestation program, based on a review of PES experiences
in Latin America. First, the paper discusses the

Costa Rica's Program of Payments
for Environmental Services (Pago de Servicios Ambientales,
PSA) provides a unique opportunity to evaluate direct
payments as a conservation policy tool. This paper reports
evidence on how much more forest has been conserved in Costa
Rica as a result of PSA contracts with landowners. Such
evidence requires estimating a counterfactual outcome: how
much forest would have been preserved if there had been no

This special issue of Policy Matters focuses on the outreach and impact of Dr. Elinor Ostrom's groundbreaking research on common property (or commons) theory. Her work was instrumental in shaping contemporary analyses of resource management and conservation, especially at a local level. This collection of research papers, essays, commentaries, and songs build upon her work and provide case studies demonstrating the practical application of her theoretical contributions. 

Who owns the world’s forests, and who decides on their governance? The answers to these questions are still deeply contested. To many Indigenous Peoples and local communities who have lived in and around forests for generations, the forests belong to them, under locally defined systems of customary tenure. In most countries, however, governments have claimed ownership of much of the forest estate through historical processes of expropriation, and those claims have been formalized in statutory laws.

Continuing depletion of forest resources, particularly in tropical developing countries, has turned vast areas of intact ecosystems into urbanized and agricultural lands. The degree of degradation varies, but in most cases, the ecosystem functions and the ability to provide a variety of ecosystem services are severely impaired. In addition to many other challenges, successful forest restoration of these lands requires considerable resources and funding, but the ecological, economic and social benefits have the potential to outweigh the investment.

...The forests of the Dawna Tenasserim are under pressure from deforestation due to
agricultural expansion and logging, forest fragmentation, subsistence poaching, commercial
poaching for the illegal wildlife trade, unsustainable harvesting of non-timber forest products
and wild meat, and major infrastructure development such as roads, pipelines and dams...WWF is conserving the Dawna Tenasserim Landscape
as an intact ecosystem with protected and connected
habitats for wildlife, and safeguarding its valuable

The Congo Basin is among the most poorly
served areas in terms of transport infrastructure in the
world, and it faces a challenging environment with dense
tropical forests crisscrossed by numerous rivers that
require construction of numerous bridges. Given such
complexities, constructing transport infrastructure as well
as properly maintaining it is certainly a key challenge for
the Congo Basin countries. Recent studies indicate that

This paper surveys the current state of
knowledge concerning the value of the Amazon rainforest,
including a survey of work to date to quantify changes in
economic values when the rainforest cover changes. The focus
is on local and regional impacts of forest loss or
protection, including both gross values of forest protection
and opportunity costs of converting the forest to other uses
including agriculture. Important gross value items surveyed

The Congo Basin has the largest forest
cover on the African continent. Of the 400 million hectares
that the Basin comprises, about 200 million of them are
covered by forest, with 90 percent being tropical dense
forests. The Congo Basin's logging sector has a
dualistic configuration. It boasts a highly visible formal
sector that is export oriented and dominated by large
industrial groups with foreign capital and an informal

The Latin America and Caribbean Region
has been at the forefront of global biodiversity
conservation, dedicating 20 percent of its land to protected
areas compared to 13 percent in the rest of the developing
world. This progress has stretched available budgets for
conservation with estimates indicating that a twofold
increase would be necessary to achieve optimal management of
existing protected areas based on 2008 data. Recognizing the