Forests and people : property, governance, and human rights

This publication presents a comprehensive analysis of the rights-based agenda in forestry, connecting it with existing work on tenure reform, governance rights and human rights. The attention to rights in forestry differs from 'rights-based approaches' in international development and other natural resource fields in critical ways. Above all, redistribution is a central demand of activists in forestry, but not in other fields. In addition, the rights agenda in forestry emerges from numerous grassroots initiatives, setting forest-related human rights apart from approaches that are driven by international and national organizations. The book is a response to the challenges that remain for advocates as new trends and initiatives (such as market-based governace, REDD+ and a rush to biofuels) can sometimes seem at odds with the gains from what has been a two-decade expansion of forest people's rights. It explores the implications of these forece, generating new insights on forest governance for scholars and providing strategic guidance for activists.