The purpose of this study is to bring together available information about the role of common property as a system of governance and its present relevance to forest management and use, to review the historical record of common property systems that have disappeared or survived, to examine the experience of selected contemporary collective management programmes in different countries, and to identify the main factors that appear to determine success or failure at the present time.

This study brings together available information about the role of common property as a system of governance and its current relevance to forest management and use. It reviews the historical record of common property systems that have disappeared or survived, and it examines the experience of selected contemporary collective management programmes in different countries. The paper identifies the main factors that appear to determine success or failure at present. Contents Chapter 1: Background; Introduction, Defining common property concepts and terms, Common property or open access? Institutional factors, Circumstances favouring common property, Forest resources and outputs as common property; Chapter 2: Learning From Systems With Historical And Indigenous Origins; Southeast Asia, South Asia, Forest belt, Hill areas, Low rainfall plains, Sub-saharan Africa, South America, Lessons learned, The decline in management of forests as common property, Common property regimes that have endured or emerged; Chapter 3: Case Studies of Contemporary Collective And Co-Management Systems; Management of natural resources on communal lands, Ejido forests-Mexico, Campfire-Zimbabwe, Joint or collective management of areas of state forest, Hill community forestry-Nepal, Van panchayats-Uttar Pradesh, India, Joint forest management-India, Management of forestry and agriculture on forest land, Communal forest stewardship agreements-The Philippines, Forest villages-Thailand, Management of collective forestation on village lands, Social forestry village woodlots-India, Village forestry-Republic of Korea; Chapter 4: Assessing the Implications of Past And Ongoing Experience; A framework for analysis, Identifying local circumstances favourable to common property management, Characteristics of the group of users, Attributes of institutional arrangements, Economic pressure and opportunities, The legal and tenurial context, Conflict resolution, The presence of the state, Decentralization and devolution, Transition issues within forest departments, NGOs as intermediaries and providers of support services; Chapter 5: Conclusions; Broader factors affecting choice of forest management regimes, Supporting local collective management of forests, Local factors affecting capacity to organize and manage.

Papers presented at theNational Seminar on Natural Resources and Tribal Communities in Northeast India, held at Pasighat during 7-8 February 2006.

Issues concerning forest genetic diversity; Cases studies from IPGRI's research project; Lessons learned and applicability of reserch outcomes.

Mexico leads the world in community management of forests for the commercial production of timber. Yet this success story is not widely known, even in Mexico, despite the fact that communities around the globe are increasingly involved in managing their own forest resources. To assess the achievements and shortcomings of Mexico's community forest management programs and to offer approaches that can be applied in other parts of the world, this book collects fourteen articles that explore community forest management from historical, policy, economic, ecological, sociological, and political perspectives. The contributors to this book are established researchers in the field, as well as many of the important actors in Mexico's nongovernmental organization sector. Some articles are case studies of community forest management programs in the states of Michoacán, Oaxaca, Durango, Quintana Roo, and Guerrero. Others provide broader historical and contemporary overviews of various aspects of community forest management. As a whole, this volume clearly establishes that the community forest sector in Mexico is large, diverse, and has achieved unusual maturity in doing what communities in the rest of the world are only beginning to explore: how to balance community income with forest conservation. In this process, Mexican communities are also managing for sustainable landscapes and livelihoods.

Community managed forest systems embody a considerable portion of the wisdom, knowledge, and practical skills and management necessary for the sustainability of forest resources globally. These systems, however, are under threat in many ways, including from the rapid rate of change of their political, socio-economic, and biophysical contexts. Adapting forest management sufficiently quickly and effectively to meet these changes is both urgent and very challenging. This Guide introduces criteria and indicators of sustainability for community managed forest landscapes (CMF C&I) as a potential learning and communication tool that can help meet that challenge. It draws on CIFOR’s collaborative research on CMF C&I in Brazil, Indonesia, and Cameroon to propose a flexible step-by-step approach to developing and implementing self or collaborative forest monitoring systems, and gives examples of C&I developed by communities in these countries. The approach is targeted to communities and their partners in forest management, such as NGOs, government, or development projects, who are seeking strategies to improve local well-being and forest sustainability through more effective learning, collaboration, and decision-making in local forest management.