This brief article documents author's reasons for considering the answer to be "yes." She draws first on her extensive ethnographic experience in forest communities in the US and in several forested areas of Indonesia, with examples. Her second source of conviction in this view comes from her involvement in a comparative study of criteria and indicators in Africa, Asia and South America, in which she visited many forested areas around the world.

This paper highlights the spatial linkages of forest quality with poverty incidence and poverty density in Vietnam. Most of the Vietnamese poor live in densely populated river deltas and cities while remote upland areas have the highest poverty incidences, gaps, and severities. Forests of high local and global value are located in areas where relatively few poor people live, but where the incidence, gap, and severity of poverty are strongest, and where the livelihood strategies are based on agricultural and forest activities.

This paper highlights the spatial linkages of forest quality with poverty incidence and poverty density in Vietnam. Most of the Vietnamese poor live in densely populated river deltas and cities while remote upland areas have the highest poverty incidences, gaps, and severities. Forests of high local and global value are located in areas where relatively few poor people live, but where the incidence, gap, and severity of poverty are strongest, and where the livelihood strategies are based on agricultural and forest activities.

Rural development in the uplands of Lao Peoples’ Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) has presented many challenges for farmers and their communities. Lao government policy is directed at reducing the production of upland rice and providing sustainable alternative livelihoods for upland farmers.

Cette analyse propose une lecture critique du cadre juridique encadrant la gestion communautaire des forêts au Gabon. Elle vise à identifier les éléments-clé du cadre juridique encadrant les forêts communautaires, en examinant à la fois ses éléments positifs ainsi que les vides et incohérences juridiques impactant sa mise en oeuvre.

Notre analyse s’articule autour de trois parties :

Ce rapport présente des recommandations visant à renforcer le cadre juridique sur les forêts communautaires dans le contexte de la révision actuelle du Code forestier au Gabon.

Il complète une analyse du cadre juridique relatif aux forêts communautaires.

ABSTRACT: Burma (Myanmar) is currently emerging from almost half a century of severe military dictatorship. In a country comprising over 50% forested landscapes, the status of forest governance and forest rights are central to the democratisation process.

... This study was intended to find out the benefits of forests, especially for non-wood forest products (NWFPs), to forestdependent local people and the relation to their socio-economic status. Sampling (169 respondents) was chosen to be an equal distribution of household’s economic status. The survey was conducted face to face with structural interviews using both open-and closed-ended questions. The results showed that bamboo and bamboo shoot were considered as the most collected NWFPs in the Bago Yoma region.

The Karen State of Kawthoolei has been heavily dependent on teak extraction to fund the Karen National
Union struggle against the Burmese military junta, the State Law and Order Restoration Council (SLORC).
Raymond Bryant explores the social and economic structure of Kawthoolei, and the way in which resource
extraction was more than simply a source of revenue � it was also an integral part of the assertion of Karen
sovereignty...

... This piece of community initiated action research reveals a number of lessons we can learn. The authors try to reflect the challenges of and opportunities for community based natural resources management in a seemingly forgotten Karen controlled area of southern Myanmar. The paper examines a number of case studies including the construction of a local water supply system, the establishment of fish conservation zones and community-driven forest conservation.