Year of publication 2014

Forest management worldwide has undergone substantial changes over the past decades, including a gradual move away from state forest control towards participatory and local forest management. Ownership and access to forest resources, initially state-dominated, are becoming more diversified, allowing a wider range of actors to participate in forest management. This shift characterizes ongoing forest tenure reform processes. Tenure reform involves changes to regulatory frameworks and governance, which require key stakeholders, including government officials, to adopt new and different roles in forest management, roles for which they frequently have little training or experience. At the same time, communities, smallholders and individuals are often unaware of their rights and responsibilities, and how these can be exercised effectively for tangible benefits. This module is designed for training involving a mix of participants interested in contributing to more effective forest tenure policy and programmes. The overall objective of the module is to enable facilitators of forest tenure development processes to identify the needs for strengthening forest tenure systems and governance and to explore strategies and tools to address these needs. The module also allows space for policy dialogue with decision-makers on key forest tenure related issues. The module is meant to complement existing training modules produced by FAO and other organizations.