What level of government holds powers over forests – and decisions affecting forests – in mainland Tanzania? Which powers and responsibilities are centralized, and which are decentralized? What role can citizens play?

This report explores criteria and indicators (C&I) for monitoring and assessing the sustainability of community managed forests (CMFs), and offers some insights into methodological tools and conceptual approaches for C&I development. The research was intended to explore the potential value of C&I to forest communities, their partners and their representative organisations to legitimise and enhance management, including strengthening of control over forest resources and facilitating the equitable distribution of the costs and benefits of forest management. The C&I for CMF tests involved six forest communities and their partners in Central Province, Cameroon, the Amazonian state of Pará, Brazil, and West Kalimantan, Indonesia. Each test was of approximately one-month duration. The core teams included an ecologist, a social scientist and a forest management specialist. Local involvement was an essential element of the research process. Facilitators enabled the active participation of community members in the critical appraisal of the C&I. After each field test, academics, policy makers, representatives of local and national non-governmental organisations, and representatives of other forest communities reviewed the emergent ‘draft’ C&I. Over 750 statements of principles, criteria, indicators and verifiers were generated by the tests. There is an evaluation of C&I testing processes and C&I for CMF development methodologies, as well as an analysis of the C&I for CMF. The comprehensive coverage of issues related to the sustainability of CMFs makes this report a valuable reference for those interested in implementing C&I for CMF, and for other users and purposes. These may include: researchers or policy makers analysing intersectoral impacts on CMFs; practitioners assessing and developing collaborative CMF initiatives; development planners and project managers evaluating or planning initiatives; and professors seeking guidance on incorporating community forestry into curricula for rural development, forestry and anthropology students.

Forest rights devolution in Nepal from the late 1980s created different types of community-based forest management institutions, in particular community forestry user groups. Effective forest regeneration led to a new focus on entrepreneurial opportunities for improving livelihoods and social equity, resulting in considerable if unstable enterprise growth. Employing the concept of enabling and asset investments, the study examines how user groups have established and managed forest-based enterprises, taking account of regulatory and non-regulatory factors. The study is based on primary data from interviews with 12 community-managed forest enterprises as well as secondary data from the published, government and grey literature. In light of the high export demand for non-timber forest products from India and elsewhere, there has been gradual policy support for enterprise development from the government. Enabling investments by the government, donors and non-governmental organizations have built momentum and contributed to success. Forest-based enterprises have the potential to change the face of Nepal’s rural economy. However, complex and poorly harmonized regulatory requirements have kept many community-managed forest enterprises in a state of informality and unable to attract asset investment. An emerging second generation of community-managed forest enterprises can benefit from reductions in regulatory burdens and attract asset investments capable of overcoming current obstacles to growth.

Deforestation is frequently a topic of discussion in the environmental arena, but it is not just the number of trees that matters; the quality of the forest is also important. Even where the forest area is stable or increasing, there are often rapid changes in its character. Natural forests are being replaced by plantations or by intensively managed forests. Around the world, forests are becoming younger and less diverse, in both species and structure; this has important impacts for biodiversity and also affects many human values. In this groundbreaking text, forest quality is discussed as a useful new concept in forest conservation and management. Three main assessment criteria are used: authenticity; environmental benefits; and social and economic benefits. The book describes a methodology and protocol for collecting and analysing data, and outlines in detail the approach required with each indicator. The authors advocate a landscape approach to assessment and demonstrate how assessment works through a series of case studies that show how this approach can be used in many ways to help forest conservation management. This hands-on manual is for professionals involved in forestry, conservation and resource management worldwide, and contains case study material from Europe, Asia, Africa and Latin America that demonstrates practical uses of the new 'landscape' approach to forest conservation. Published with IUCN and WWF