ABSTRACT
Since 1985, developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America have increasingly aimed to decentralize natural resources governance and transfer management authority to local communities (Larson and Dahal 2012; Sun et al. 2012; White and Martin 2002). One of the most dynamic policy sectors has been forestry, in which the emphasis has been on legitimizing access to and use of forest land and resources by forest-dwelling groups (Larson and Dahal 2012).
