EFFORTS TO increase forest-dependent villagers' rights and access to forest products are fundamental to the community forestry approach. Competition over forest resources can arise between governments and forest users, among different communities of forest users, and among groups within a forest-dependent community. How the potential benefits of forest resources should be distributed is a key question.

Distribution of Rights Between Governments and Forest Users

Governments in Asia have tended to see the state itself as the prime beneficiary of forests, whether forests are managed as producers of timber revenue or as protected national resources. Yet, concerns about deforestation and population growth have encouraged governments in many Asian countries to experiment with ways to provide forest dwellers with legal access to forest lands, and to share responsibility for forest management with local people. Although access has been limited to date, the change nevertheless reflects a fundamental shift in the thinking of forest departments. There is growing recognition that local people can be partners in forest management and have rights to a share of forest resources.

Efforts to give villagers more secure access to forest lands under forest department jurisdiction are rooted in several demonstrated advantages. First, and most simply, these rights benefit local communities. They enable communities to enhance their incomes and collect forest products for household use, without government harassment.

Second, official arrangements providing access or secure tenure encourage villagers to think of the long term and to use forests sustainably—to plant trees, conserve protected areas, and adopt agroforestry practices. Local villagers are also in the best position to know the area and provide continual, intensive attention. The recognition that improved management mutually benefits forest departments and local communities has proved essential to each party's participation in these programs.

Third, giving villagers legal rights of access to public forest resources advances their autonomy and decision-making power relative to the state. Legal rights to the