The governance of community forests requires that resource appropriators overcome collective action dilemmas. Often, forest communities appear unable to do this. External actors then present themselves to help. Inducing the organization of communities through external actors is common practice in development efforts in general, and in community forestry programs, in particular. Does external-agent involvement affect the likelihood of durable collective action at the local level? We apply criteria associated with durable collective action to six communities in Maharashtra, India, with varying levels of external-actor involvement in the organization of Joint Forest Management committees. Our results show that although there is a (weak) correlation between external-agent involvement and expected durability of local collective action, such interventions do not appear to straightforwardly lead to the emergence of durable forms of collective action in communities where it didn't previously exist.

This study aims at exploring the potential impact of forest protection on rural households' private fuel tree planting in Chiro district of eastern Ethiopia. It attempts to evaluate whether or not forest protection interventions improve rural households' private fuel wood production and indirectly contribute to reforestation and restoration of endangered wildlife. The study results revealed a robust and significant positive impact of the intervention on farmers' decisions to produce private household energy by growing fuel trees on their farm. As participation in private fuel tree planting is not random, the study confronts a methodological issue in investigating the causal effect of forest protection intervention on rural farm households' private fuel tree planting through non-parametric propensity score matching (PSM) method. The protection intervention on average has increased fuel tree planting by 4 633 (1 725%) compared to open access areas and indirectly contributed to slowing down the loss of biodiversity in the area.

China's plywood production grew rapidly over the past 15 years from around 9 Mm³ yr^-1 in the mid 1990s to over 55 M m³ yr^-1 by 2011. Associated with this has been a proliferation of small-scale eucalypt veneer mills processing young (≤ 5 yrs) small diameter logs (mostly ≤ 12 cm small end diameter); by 2011 there were over 5000 such mills in China with a collective capacity to process well over 15.0 M m³ yr^-1 of logs. We review key characteristics of this eucalypt veneer industry with special focus on three key regions for eucalypt veneer production in China. Factors that have spurred and facilitated the rapid growth of this industry are reviewed along with future challenges likely to emerge for China's eucalypt veneer industry.

Effective monitoring is a fundamental requirement for adaptive management. The need for better tools for monitoring livelihoods is particularly acute. A simple indicators-based livelihoods monitoring tool to be used at the village scale was developed and tested. Participatory methods were used to elicit local perceptions and aspirations about development and conservation. That information was used to develop a prototype set of indicators, organized using the Sustainable Livelihoods Framework. Data were collected for the indicators in six villages to calibrate and test the tool. Indicators of financial and physical capital worked well. Social capital and natural capital were more difficult to capture with low-cost indicators. Most of the indicators are applicable in rural areas of the district and beyond. Despite some shortcomings, the tool shows good potential as a way to focus attention on key aspects of rural development and as a way to inform and facilitate discussion and negotiation between communities and other stakeholders.

The objectives of this review article are, firstly, to provide an overview of the literature on the main characteristics of what is referred to as the international forest regime and secondly, based on this, to review explanations for fragmentation as its core characteristic. A third aim of the article is to propose fields for future policy-oriented research on global forest governance, the international forest regime and its fragmentation. The article discusses different strands of literature and academic views on the existence and main characteristics of an international forest regime. It regards the recent notion of an international forest regime complex to be a fruitful topic for future research proposals and finds that fragmentation is its analytical core characteristic. In addition, the article reviews partial explanations for the great relevance of fragmentation in the case of the forest regime complex. It discriminates between domestic factors and causes as opposed to those resulting from the international system. Based on the review, the article suggests, lastly, fields for future research on global forest governance, the international forest regime complex and its fragmentation.

Despite becoming one of China's fastest expanding and most valuable forest land uses, bamboo's role in livelihoods and rural development is poorly understood. Detailed quantitative data from 240 households were used to study the contribution of bamboo to household income and rural livelihoods in 12 remote and mountainous villages in southern China. Bamboo was a ubiquitous and highly utilised resource for a wide range of subsistence purposes in all households. Bamboo income was predominantly derived from dried bamboo shoots cultivated in small-scale household plots, and was the single most valuable source of cash. The average bamboo income share was 13.3%, ranging from 0 to 50% between villages. High income households had the highest absolute bamboo income, but low income households had the highest dependence on bamboo income. It is suggested that bamboo is an excellent pro poor resource, especially in remote, mountainous areas with limited off-farm income opportunities.

Wood-based panels, produced from primary processing of raw timber, are a major input for furniture. Both industries form an important production chain in Europe's forest-based sector and face on-going structural changes induced mainly by technological innovation, expansion and relocation in the context of a growing global competition. In an exploratory shift-share analysis, the study investigates these changes and their effects on employment in the two interconnected industries across the European countries from 1999 to 2007. The results reveal opposite growth trends in Western and Eastern countries, as well as dynamic restructuring processes especially in the Eastern industries. Western countries lose employees on a large scale for the sake of new emerging jobs in Eastern countries, however on a smaller scale. The major shifts are induced by widespread outsourcing, relocation and downsizing trends and it can be shown that the regional availability of skilled, low cost labour and raw wood material represent the key locational factors in the wood-based panel and furniture industries. The study highlights regions where wood-based panel and furniture industries in neighbouring Western and Eastern countries clearly interact. The findings of cross-regional employment shifts can help to inform regional policies for sustainable development of Europe's forest-based sector from a macroeconomic and social perspective.

The Palcazu Forest Management Model was introduced to the tropics in the 1980s to incorporate social, ecological and economic considerations for the development of the Palcazu Valley, Peru. The development of the Yanesha Forestry Cooperative was the social benefit; the use of strip clear-cutting to promote rapid regeneration of timber species was the ecological benefit; and the complete use of timber from the clear-cut strips was the economic benefit. The sustainability of the Palcazu forest management model is discussed based on the interaction of factors that affected its performance. Apart from adverse social and economic policies, there was no social inclusion of the Yanesha to the project, limited knowledge of strip clear-cutting in the tropics, and low timber productivity, along with low profits and high costs in its first harvest. As originally proposed, the Palcazu forest management model is not sustainable, but several modifications could make this model financially viable.

Companies involved in natural resource extraction, such as forestry, have a profound impact on the environments in which they operate. Therefore, active engagement in corporate social responsibility (CSR) by managing close relationships with key stakeholder groups, i.e., governments, communities, environmental NGOs, and employees have become necessary to maintain their social license to operate. In this paper, we test the hypothesis that proactiveness has a positive influence on the company's corporate social performance (CSP). Proactiveness can act as a stance towards CSP, and further it may be a precondition to gain a competitive advantage by investing in CSR. International survey data from managers in 60 forest industry companies in different continents is used to empirically test the hypothesis. A positive impact of company's proactiveness on CSP was found using the regression analysis. Results also show that employees and managers in a proactive company more often take the initiative to improve their CSP compared to the employees and managers in less proactive companies.

Conflict may simultaneously help and hinder the local governance of community forests. Based on 499 observations of forest user groups included in the International Forestry Resources and Institutions (IFRI) database, it is shown here that variables which are associated with good community forestry outcomes also correlate positively with the occurrence of conflict. This finding seems to be incongruent with the notion that conflict undermines collective action and therewith the potential for sustainable governance of community forests. Individual preferences cannot be easily amalgamated into a group preference. Efforts to articulate group preferences depend on the institutions chosen to reach compromises. These institutions are commonly challenged by those whose preferences are poorly served, adding to the potential for conflict. Therefore it is argued here, that the study of conflict in community forest governance should incorporate rules and rule-making procedures in its analyses.