Over the last two decades, community-based forest management has graduated from being an experimental strategy to becoming a much more mainstream approach. In developing countries, an estimated 22 percent of forest estate is owned by or reserved for community and indigenous groups. Now a SANDEE...

This paper seeks to understand whether decentralized management of forests can reduce forest loss in developing countries. In South Asia, large-scale experiments in decentralization -- Joint Forest Management in India and community forestry in Nepal, in particular - have changed the relationship...

In this study, we undertake a choice experiment in order to identify differences in local demand for watershed services in the Koshi basin of Nepal. We first examine the possibility of using a non-monetary numéraire to estimate household willingness-to-pay for watershed services. Survey results...

The Indian economy has grown rapidly at 6–8 per cent per year since 1995 and planners aim to sustain an 8 per cent growth rate in the next years. Growth has created considerable optimism about India and its place in the world. After many years of little change, poverty appears to be on the...

Large-scale experiments with the decentralization of forest management in South Asia have changed the relationship between forests, public institutions that manage forests, and rural households. But have these institutional changes led to reductions in forest degradation and improvements in...

Decentralized forest management is an important policy issue in India and elsewhere. Yet there are few careful studies of the impacts of community forestry. The authors try to fill this gap by analyzing National Sample Survey data from 524 villages in five states in India. Their analysis seeks...

Community-based natural resource managementis an important strategy to conserve and sustainably use biodiversity and wildlife in Namibia. The authors examine the extent to which conservancies have been successful in meeting their primary goal of improving the lives of rural households. They...

Irrigation management transfer is an important strategy among donors and governments to strengthen farmer control over water and irrigation infrastructure. This study seeks to understand whether irrigation management transfer is meeting the promise of its commitments. The authors use data from a...