ABSTRACT
The decade of the 1990s saw the rebirth of democracy in some parts of Africa, and with it the initiation of different governance reform initiatives, notably processes of administrative and political decentralization. Many countries embarked on decentralization in response to demands for better management of natural resources, including forests, and for more equitable sharing of benefits derived from them. Forest governance reform and decentralization in countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) have taken various forms and are proceeding at different paces and stages of implementation.
