FAO.org

Secure tenure is an important prerequisite for sustainable forest management. More diversified tenure systems  could provide a basis for improving forest management  and local livelihoods, particularly where the State has  insufficient capacity to manage forests. In the past decade  many countries have initiated efforts to reform their tenure arrangements for forests and forest land,  devolving some degree of access and management from the State to others, mainly households, private c ompanies  and communities. This publication provides practical guidance for policy-makers and others concerned with addressing forest tenure reform. Drawing from many  sources, including forest tenure assessments carried out by FAO in Africa, Southeast Asia, Latin America and Central  Asia, it deduces lessons about what works and what does not, and why. It formulates a set of ten principles to guide tenure reform, and proposes an adaptive process for diversifying forest tenure in a context-appropriate way. The publication emphasizes that successful tenure reform  is linked with reform in associated regulatory frameworks  and governance arrangements, and must be seen in the context of a wider national development agenda.