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Globally, deforestation continues, and although protected areas effectively protect forests, the majority of forests are not in protected areas. Thus, how effective are different management regimes to avoid deforestation in non-protected forests? We sought to assess the effectiveness of different national forestmanagement regimes to safeguard forests outside protected areas. We compared 2000-2014 deforestation rates across the temperate forests of 5 countries in the Himalaya (Bhutan, Nepal, China, India, and Myanmar) of which 13% are protected. We reviewed the literature to characterize forest management regimes in each country and conducted a quasi-experimental analysis to measure differences in deforestation of unprotected forests among countries and states in India. Countries varied in both overarching forest-management goals and specific tenure arrangements and policies for unprotected forests, from policies emphasizing economic development to thosefocused on forest conservation. Deforestation rates differed up to 1.4% between countries, even after accounting for local determinants of deforestation, such as human population density, market access, and topography. The highest deforestation rates were associated with forest policies aimed at maximizing profits and unstable tenure regimes. Deforestation in national forest-management regimes that emphasized conservation and community management were relatively low. In India results were consistent with the national-level results. We interpreted our results in the context of the broader literature on decentralized, community-based natural resource management, and our findings emphasize that the type and quality of community-based forestry programs and the degree to which they are oriented toward sustainable use rather than economic development are important for forest protection. Our cross-national results are consistent with results from site- and regional-scale studies that show forest-management regimes that ensure stable land tenure and integrate local-livelihood benefits with forest conservation result in the best forest outcomes. La deforestación continúa a nivel mundial y aunque las áreas protegidas protegen eficientemente a los bosques, la mayoría de éstos no están en áreas protegidas. Por lo tanto, ¿qué tan efectivos son los diferentes regímenes de manejo para evitar la deforestación en los bosques sin protección? Comparamos las tasas de deforestación de 2000 a 2014 en los bosques templados de cinco países del Himalaya (Bután, Nepal, China, India y Myanmar), de los cuales el 13% está protegido. Revisamos la literatura para caracterizar los regímenes de manejo forestal en cada país y realizamos un análisis casi experimental para medir las diferencias en la deforestación de los bosques desprotegidos entre los países y los estados de la India. Los países variaron desde los objetivos dominantes del manejo forestal y los arreglos específicos por antigüedad y las políticas para los bosques desprotegidos, desde políticas que enfatizan el desarrollo económico hasta aquellas enfocadas en la conservación forestal. Las tasas de deforestación difirieron hasta un 1.4% entre los países, incluso después de representar los determinantes locales de la deforestación, como la densidad poblacional humana, el acceso al mercado y la topografía. Las tasas más altas de deforestación estuvieron asociadas con políticas forestales dirigidas a la maximización de las ganancias y regímenes inestables de antigüedad. La deforestación dentro de los regímenes de manejo forestal que enfatizaron la conservación y el manejo comunitario fue relativamente baja. En la India, los resultados fueron consistentes con los resultados a nivel nacional. Interpretamos nuestros resultados dentro del contexto de la literatura generalizada sobre el manejo de recursos descentralizado y basado en la comunidad. Nuestros hallazgos enfatizan que ese tipo y calidad de programas forestales basados en la comunidad y el grado en el que están orientados hacia el uso sustentable en lugar del desarrollo económico es importante para la protección forestal. Nuestros resultados trans-nacionales son consistentes con los resultados de estudios a escala regional y de sitio que muestran que los regímenes de manejo forestal que aseguran una antigüedad estable de suelo e integran los beneficios del sustento local con la conservación forestal resultan en mejores resultados forestales.

Ecotourism is developing rapidly in biodiversity hotspots worldwide, but there is limited and mixed empirical evidence that ecotourism achieves positive biodiversity outcomes. We assessed whether ecotourism influenced forest loss rates and trajectories from 2000 to 2017 in Himalayan temperate forests. We compared forest loss in 15 ecotourism hubs with nonecotourism areas in 4 Himalayan countries. We used matching statistics to control for local-level determinants of forest loss, for example, population density, market access, and topography. None of the ecotourism hubs was free of forest loss, and we found limited evidence that forest-loss trajectories in ecotourism hubs were different from those in nonecotourism areas. In Nepal and Bhutan, differences in forest loss rates between ecotourism hubs and matched nonecotourism areas did not differ significantly, and the magnitude of the estimated effect was small. In India, where overall forest loss rates were the lowest of any country in our analysis, forest loss rates were higher in ecotourism hubs than in matched nonecotourism areas. In contrast, in China, where overall forest loss rates were highest, forest loss rates were lower in ecotourism hubs than where there was no ecotourism. Our results suggest that the success of ecotourism as a forest conservation strategy, as it is currently practiced in the Himalaya, is context dependent. In a region with high deforestation pressures, ecotourism may be a relatively environmentally friendly form of economic development relative to other development strategies. However, ecotourism may stimulate forest loss in regions where deforestation rates are low. El ecoturismo está desarrollándose rápidamente en los puntos calientes de biodiversidad en todo el mundo, pero existe evidencia empírica mixta y limitada de los resultados positivos que se logran con el ecoturismo. Valoramos si el ecoturismo influyó sobre las tasas de pérdida forestal y sus trayectorias entre el 2000 y el 2017 en los bosques templados del Himalaya. Comparamos la pérdida forestal en quince focos ecoturísticos con la pérdida forestal en las áreas sin ecoturismo de cuatro países del Himalaya. Utilizamos estadística correspondiente para controlar las determinantes a nivel local de la pérdida del bosque, por ejemplo, la densidad poblacional, el acceso al mercado y la topografía. Ninguno de los focos ecoturísticos estaba libre de pérdida forestal, además de que encontramos evidencia limitada de que las trayectorias de la pérdida forestal en los focos ecoturísticos eran diferentes a las trayectorias en las áreas sin ecoturismo. En Nepal y en Bután, las diferencias en la pérdida forestal entre los focos ecoturísticos y las áreas sin ecoturismo correspondidas no difirieron significativamente y la magnitud del efecto estimado fue menor. En la India, donde las tasas generales de pérdida forestal fueron las más bajas de cualquier país en nuestro análisis, las tasas de pérdida forestal fueron más altas en los focos ecoturísticos que en las áreas sin ecoturismo correspondidas. Como contraste, en China, donde las tasas generales de pérdida forestal fueron más altas, las tasas de pérdida forestal fueron más bajas en los focos ecoturísticos que en donde no existe el ecoturismo. Nuestros resultados sugieren que el éxito del ecoturismo como estrategia de conservación del bosque, a como se práctica actualmente en el Himalaya, depende del contexto. En una región con presiones altas de deforestación, el ecoturismo puede ser una forma de desarrollo económico relativamente amigable con el ambiente comparado con otras estrategias de desarrollo. Sin embargo, el ecoturismo puede estimular la pérdida forestal en regiones en las que las tasas de deforestación son bajas. 全球范围内，生物多样性热点地区的生态旅游芷在快速发展，但缺少明确的实证证据来证明生态旅游对生 物多样性保护有积极作用。本研究评估了生态旅游是否对2000-2017年间喜马拉雅温带森林的森林丧失率和森林丧失轨迹产生影响。我们比较了喜马拉雅地区四个国家的十五个生态旅游区与非生态旅游区的森林丧失情 况。我们用配对的统计数据来控制当地影响森林丧失的其它因素, 如人口密度，幵放市场程度和地形等。我们 发现所有生态旅游区都遭受了森林丧失，且有限的证据表明，生态旅游区与非生态旅游区森林丧失轨迹并不一 致。在尼泊尔和不丹，生态旅游区与相配对的非生态旅游区的森林丧失率没有显著差异，我们估计的生态旅游 影响程度也很低。在本研究中，印度的森林总体丧失率最低，生态旅游区的森林丧失率比相配对的非生态旅游 区更高。相比之下，在森林总体丧失率最高的中国，生态旅游区的森林丧失率却比非生态旅游区的更低。我们 的结果表明，以目前喜马拉雅地区的实践为例, 生态旅游能否成为ー种成功的森林保护策略要依据具#:情况 在森林砍伐压力较大的地区，生态旅游可能是相比于其它发展策略较为坏境友好的经济发展形式,但在森林砍 伐率低的地区，生态旅游则可能加速森林丧失。

Evidence of the impact of community-based forest management (CBFM) on conservation outcomes is mixed. Local governance is a key moderating factor, but what constitutes good governance is still up for debate. Desirable institutional features typically arise endogenously, which complicates the analysis of causality. We use an experimental design to analyze the impact on environmental outcomes of adding an externally implemented monitoring regime to an existing CBFM initiative in Ethiopia. We distinguish between bottom-up and top-down monitoring to improve the accountability of local leaders. We find that enhanced bottom-up monitoring by community members does not affect forest outcomes, but top-down monitoring promotes forest conservation. We also identify a mechanism linking top-down monitoring to conservation: leaders work harder to protect the forest, which “crowds in” effort by community members. Our results are not about reducing the role of communities in forest management, they are a plea for oversight by the relevant authority to help communities overcome local power asymmetries.

Natural resource management decisions can be based on incomplete knowledge when they lack scientific research, monitoring, and assessment and/or simultaneously fail to draw on local ecological knowledge. Many community-based forestry organizations in the United States attempt to address these knowledge gaps with an integrated ecological stewardship approach that balances ecological, social, and economic goals. This paper examines the use and integration of local knowledge and conventional science in ecological stewardship and monitoring by seven community-based forestry demonstration projects. Through document reviews and interviews with both participants and partners of all of these community-based organizations, we found that all the community-based forestry groups incorporated local ecological knowledge into many aspects of their management or monitoring activities, such as collaboratively designing monitoring programs with local ranchers, forest workers, and residents; involving local people in collecting data and interpreting results; and documenting the local ecological knowledge of private forest landowners, long-time residents, and harvesters of nontimber forest products. We found that all the groups also used conventional science to design or conduct ecological assessments, monitoring, or research. We also found evidence, in the form of changes in attitudes on the part of local people and conventional scientists and jointly produced reports, that the two types of knowledge were integrated by all groups. These findings imply that community-based forestry groups are redistributing the power of conventional science through the use of diverse knowledge sources. Still, several obstacles prevented some local, traditionally under-represented groups from being significantly involved in monitoring and management decisions, and their knowledge has not yet been consistently incorporated.

The Indonesian government is committed to allocating 12.7 million hectares of forest land to local communities through community-based forest management (CBFM) schemes. We analysed CBFM case studies from three provinces throughout the archipelago. In all cases, actions focused on nominal redistribution of land but ignored local participation and aspirations. CBFM was used as a tool to solve problems of forest tenure, legalization of forest communities and forest rehabilitation, rather than to empower communities and therefore address issues of social justice. Communities remained subject to land-use restrictions, limiting their opportunities. Their participation was often weak and limited to the village elites. Technical support to communities was almost inexistent, leaving them without the financial and technical skills required to run the schemes efficiently. The analysis indicates that redistribution of rights only serves social justice when the process recognises local aspirations and cultural values of participants.

Increased out-migration from rural areas indicates a significant socio-demographic shift that is increasingly being studied for its impact on community-based forestry institutions. Previous studies in Nepal, Mexico and India have highlighted changes in community-based forestry institutions through increased participation of women following out-migration of men. Therefore, this paper analyses the participation of women in Van Panchayats in a representative sample of six Van Panchayats from Almora district, which is facing one of the highest rates of out-migration in Kumaon region of India. The analysis suggests there is low participation of women in the leadership positions of Van Panchayats despite landmark legislations to increase women's participation. Further, there was no statistically significant difference between participation of women from migrant versus non-migrant households in general assembly meetings of Van Panchayats, suggesting lack of supporting evidence on previous claims about out-migration leading to increased participation of women. Moreover, the position of women in the household (whether household head or not) was significant in explaining their participation in Van Panchayats, and other community-based institutions. The reported findings are relevant to the design of gender inclusive public policy on Van Panchayats as well as to the literature on impact of out-migration on community-based forestry.

Forest governance is under reorganisation in many European countries, because of the changes in property and forest tenure rights. Portuguese community-based forestry is an interesting research subject from a New Institutional Economics perspective. Community forests (an important part of community lands known as baldios) cover half a million hectares in the north and the centre of the country and are owned by local communities. Their average size of over 400 hectares and diversity of resources underscore their value, and their management contributes to rural development. Recent laws intend for the complete transfer of their tenure rights to communities and local authorities. In this study, we analysed the transformational processes of Portuguese community-based forestry. To structure this analysis and shed light on forest management-related problems, we followed the 'four-level institutional analysis' developed by Williamson. Particular attention was paid to the first three levels. The first concerned social practice and informal rules. We are describing the history of baldios, their use by rural populations, and the subsequent occupation by the State for afforestation. The second level addressed the institutional environment and formal rules. Here, we focused on the recognition of baldio community properties and their legal framework development. The third level addressed management and the interaction of actors in transaction cost savings. Here, we examined the current community-based management models and future trends. In our analysis, we identified the causes underlying baldio management problems at different levels, which highlight the importance of new governance models and economic activities. The analysis showed that overall, the Portuguese community forest governance is a flexible structure capable of adapting to political and demographic changes and offering valuable support for the development of rural areas in the north and centre of the country. Additional empirical research is needed to improve knowledge on the impact of institutions on the management of community forests, both nationally and internationally.

How is community forestry (CF) research changing as CF policies mature around the world? In this research note we use bibliometrics and topic modelling to display trends in the geographic foci and research topics mentioned in the abstracts of CF-related research papers published between 1990 and 2017. We find that studies of CF in South Asia make up a substantial proportion of the literature, although CF research in Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America has also developed. Using a structural topic model, we identify four major research areas and 20 topics latent in the text of the abstracts analyzed. The trends of topic proportions over time offer evidence of a shift in research focus from broad policy analysis to local outcomes and growing interest in carbon sequestration. Results identify the most prominent CF research topics and demonstrate the potential of topic models to analyze large amounts of scientific literature.

Investigations of factors influencing wildfire risks in Mediterranean forest areas have rarely considered the possible influence of the ownership type and management modalities in forest areas owned and/or managed by rural communities, referred to as baldios in Portugal. This study aimed to analyse the relationship between forest ownership types and the management modalities of community forests in the distribution of wildfires in Pinus pinaster areas of Portugal over the past 40 years. We carried out a comparative analysis of P. pinaster forests and wildfires considering three ownership types (community, private, and state forests) and four different management modalities of the community lands (by local communities or local authorities through independent management or in co-management with national Forest Services). The protection status of the pine forests was also considered. We also evaluated the possible influence of topographic variables—elevation, slope, and aspect—and their relationships with ownership types, management modalities, and protection status. To evaluate the trends and making use of the existing cartography, the study period (1975 to 2017) was subdivided into three time periods (1975–1989, 1990–2009, and 2010–2017). The results revealed significant differences in the annual percentage of burned areas in different among ownership types but no differences among protected and unprotected areas. Baldios showed the highest percentage of burned area relative to their total area, but some differences between the management modalities are apparent. Furthermore, the proportion of burned area increased over the study period, particularly with a very large area burned in 2017, possibly reflecting climatic changes and a decrease in management activities. This indicates that forest management should be strengthened, with special attention to fuel management. Fuel reduction could be improved through the development of new bioeconomic activities in community forests.

Global initiatives to promote large-scale forest landscape restoration (FLR) require adaptive approaches consistent with locally relevant models of land use, management, ownership and economic incentives. The Phewa Lake watershed was subject to severe degradation leading to high siltation of the lake. Forests were restored to this hilly and mountainous landscape as a result of four-decades of conservation and communitybased forestry (CBF) efforts. This study assessed the process and key motivating factors for community-based forest landscape restoration. The main finding is that community participation, promoted by Nepal's policy of decentralised forest management, was a key motivating factor for the success of forest landscape restoration and increased local ownership of restoration efforts. Promotion of natural forest regeneration through CBF was an effective landscape conservation method compared to the government-led investments in structural engineering. The CBF approach can make a significant contribution to forest restoration and achieving national and international restoration targets.