Presents case studies of the effects of devolution policies on the management of forests in several Asian countries. This book demonstrates that devolution policies increased governmental control over the management of local resources and did so at lower cost. It is useful to forest and other natural resource managers.

This text is built around case studies of the effects of devolution policies on the management of forests in several Asian countries. The studies demonstrate that, contrary to the aim of such policies, they increased governmental control over the management of local resources, and at lower cost. They also show that if genuine control is to be exercised by local resource users for their livelihoods, more has to be done to take their needs into account and to diversify the range of interests represented and the opportunities for creating livelihoods from the local resources.

Leading experts provide an in-depth account of how trends towards increased local governance are shifting control over natural resource management from the state to local societies, and the implications of this control for social justice and the environment.