Decentralization reforms and property rights: Potentials and puzzles for forest sustainability and livelihoods

This presentation provides an overview of the SANREM research regarding decentralization reform and property rights in forest management. Realizing that decentralization reform often falls short of its sustainable natural resource management objectives, the research hypothesizes that this is a consequence of blueprint policies ill adapted to the local context and that reforms will be more effective under particular circumstances. This is accomplished by longitudinal study regarding the impacts of reform in Uganda, Kenya, Bolivia and Mexico.