Forest Tenure Reform and Sustainable Management

Forest tenure reform encompasses the legal, institutional and policy changes that redefine who holds rights to forests, how those rights are exercised and how responsibilities for conservation and use are shared. Over the past two decades, reform efforts have shifted from state‐centred models towards diversified arrangements including community stewardship, private ownership and collaborative governance. Such reforms aim to enhance tenure security, promote long-term investments in forest health and align local livelihoods with ecosystem conservation. Sustainable management under reformed tenure frameworks integrates economic, social and ecological objectives. It relies on clear rights and responsibilities, inclusive decision-making and adaptive practices to maintain forest biodiversity, secure carbon stocks and support rural development. By recognising customary and collective rights, tenure reform has enabled communities to manage forests for timber, non-timber products and ecosystem services, often resulting in measurable gains in reforestation, improved forest structure and resilient livelihoods. However, challenges remain in balancing equity and efficiency, resolving conflicts over overlapping claims and ensuring that regulatory frameworks incentivise both conservation and productive use at landscape scales.

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Forest Tenure Reform and Sustainable Management publication trend

The graph below shows the total number of articles in forest tenure reform and sustainable management across all publications each year (not limited to Nature Index journals).

Technical terms

Forest tenure: The bundle of legal and customary rights defining who may access, use and manage forest resources and who must bear associated responsibilities.

Sustainable management: A holistic approach to forestry that seeks to meet present needs for forest products and services without compromising ecosystem health or the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

Collective forest tenure reform: Policy interventions that reallocate forest rights from state or communal ownership to individual households or community groups, often through long-term use and management agreements.

Non-timber forest products (NTFPs): Biological resources other than timber, including fruits, nuts, resins, medicinal plants and mushrooms, which can provide supplementary income and incentivise conservation.

References

1. The Impact of Collective Forestland Tenure Reform on Rural Household Income: The Background of Rural Households’ Divergence. Forests (2022).
2. Evaluating the Impact of Forest Tenure Reform on Farmers’ Investment in Public Welfare Forest Areas: A Case Study of Gansu Province, China. Land (2022).
3. The Effect of China’s New Circular Collective Forest Tenure Reform on Household Non-Timber Forest Product Production in Natural Forest Protection Project Regions. Sustainability (2018).