This simple manual is intended for general guidelines on traditional methods in managing natural resources. It is based on the indigenous/traditional knowledge of people of Dayak Kenyah Uma' Jalan society, East Kutai, Kalimantan, Indonesia. Local traditional knowledge is one of the important components to utilise and conserve the natural resources. This manual shows how to prepare the land for planting food crops, community forest management procedures and fire prevention.

CIFOR has been actively engaged in field research in Indonesia focussing particularly on the role of forests and forest products in generating sustainable livelihoods for local users. Issues such as incentives and institutional structures for equitable and sustainable management systems have been highlighted in this research, which has been undertaken with the active co-operation of local NGOs.

In 2002, mahogany (Swietenia macrophylla) was listed on Appendix II of CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species). This requires that all producing countries define and implement sustainable production systems for mahogany, the most commercially important neotropical timber, which is still harvested from natural forests. The only serious efforts to produce mahogany sustainably from managed natural forests are those of communities in Quintana Roo, Mexico, which control 800,000 of natural production forests.

This occasional paper is the result of research carried out from 2006 to 2008 on the effects of new tenure rights for forest-based communities in Latin America on access to forest resources and benefits. Focused on seven different regions in four countries, the paper examines changes in statutory rights, the implementation of those rights in practice, and the extent to which they have led to tangible new benefits from forests, particularly to new sources of income.

The Grab Bag' is designed to complement 'the BAG' and for use by social scientists who may find 'the BAG' overly prescriptive. The eight methods presented are either more difficult for non-social scientists to use or, in a couple of cases, can substitute for one or more method presented in 'the BAG'. 'The Scoring and Analysis Guide' provides the user with help in making an actual assessment of the social C&I, based on the results of these methods.

Andrew P. Vayda, drawing on his long experience in studying the relations between people and their environments, addresses here the question of how human influences can be better incorporated into ecological studies. Citing relevant sources from the literature of philosophy as well as social and biological science, he argues that we should be guided in our research by the goal of giving causal explanations of concrete human behaviour and its concrete environmental effects.

Governments in many countries are decentralising to give more control over decision making and budgets to local administrations. One expectation of this change is that local governments will more effectively and efficiently respond to the poorest citizens in their jurisdictions. Decentralisation is especially significant to forest communities, which have historically benefited little from government services and poverty reduction programmes because of their physical isolation and social marginalisation.

Scenario methods can be used to anticipate the future and expand the creativity of people thinking about complex forest management situations. This manual describes the use of scenarios with multiple stakeholders, with examples drawn from community-based forest management. Four classes of scenario methods are described: visions, projections, pathways and alternative scenarios. Examples of rapid participatory techniques relevant to scenario methods are also summarised.