Secondary forests form a major component of the forest types in the Central Himalayan region and in the north eastern hills of India. Deforestation in these areas is largely due to external pressures of timber extraction for industrial use. When large scale deforestation from outside the region is superimposed upon the demands of the local communities for food, fodder and fuelwood, the previously balanced use of forest resources, including the management of swidden fallow secondary forests, becomes impaired.

Five themes are identified for social, economic and policy research relating to miombo woodland management in southern Africa. They are: (1) patterns of local institutional change; (2) household use of woodland products; (3) markets for woodland products; (4) longer term dimensions to woodland use and exploitation and (5) policy and legislation. These themes are by no means definitive or exhaustive, but are described here as a means of focusing on the scope of future research, and as a basis for identifying priorities.

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.

This booklet is designed to help people interested in working with small groups (usually communities or groups within communities) to reach their goals. It has been written, building first on the global literature on community based management of forests and other natural resources; secondly, on a base of experience catalyzing collective action within communities in more than 30 communities in 11 countries, using the approach called “Adaptive Collaborative Management” (ACM); and thirdly, through experience trying to catalyze collective action in two communities in Sumatra.

This brief article begins with a summary of CIFOR's work on criteria and indicators for sustainable forest management (C&I). It then discusses how CIFOR programs combined to form the program called Local People, Devolution and Adaptive Collaborative Management of Forests". It briefly describes the research approach and the research design underway in 9 countries.

How can different interest groups engage together in learning processes that enable them to better manage community forests? In this volume, practitioners from eight countries document their experience with the aim of identifying how to characterize social learning, as well as how to improve upon current practice. Analysis of current approaches to facilitation and the circumstances or platforms of learning indicate the need for more attention to the different avenues and styles of learning and the potential benefits of using multiple avenues.

The Culture and Conservation Research Program in Kayan Mentarang National Park, East Kalimantan, constitutes a unique interdisciplinary engagement in central Borneo that lasted for six years (1991-97). Based on original ethnographic, ecological, and historical data, this volume comprehensively describes the people and the environment of this region and makes a rare contribution to the understanding of past and present interactions between people and forests in central Borneo. Kayan Mentarang has thus become one of the ethnographically best known protected areas in Southeast Asia.

The brief describes development planning consultations, locally known as musrenbang, conducted in stages through different levels of governance: village, sub-district and district. The brief then documents lessons from experience catalyzing collective action among local community goups (in particular women’s groups) to engage in this development process and to help articulate the women’s aspirations in such a way that they could be heard by district decision makers.