These proceedings present results from research done for a decade in the CIFOR project Site Management and Productivity in Tropical Plantations. They include papers presented at a workshop in Brazil in November 2004 and then updated at a workshop in November 2006 at Bogor, Indonesia. These papers complement the proceedings in the series published by CIFOR in 2004, 2000, and 1999. Currently the research network includes 16 sites in 8 countries representing a range of biophysical environments, species, productivity potentials and management strategies.

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.

La gestion durable des ressources naturelles, notamment dans les pays du Sahel, a toujours soulevé des problèmes dont celui de l’inadaptation des législations nationales y relatives. Le processus d’élaboration et de mise en œuvre de ces législations est à l’image des conditions politiques, socio-économiques et culturelles des pays en question. Le Burkina Faso, pour sa part, a connu plusieurs formes de régimes politiques et, de ce fait, capitalise un certain nombre d’expériences de réformes législatives et réglementaires dans le secteur des forêts et des ressources naturelles.