Generations of human dependence on the world's forests, about 57% of which are in developing countries, have led to the alarming depletion of these resources. In these cases, affected communities experience losses in shelter, food, livelihoods, and protection against natural hazards, among other necessities.

Sustainable forest management projects are currently ongoing in various parts of the world, using various approaches to ensure that the benefits people derive from forest-related industries do not come at the expense of the forests themselves.

Find out more about the subject by reading these documents:

• Sustainable Forest Management in Indigenous Communities (WWF)
• Decentralization of Forest Management in Bolivia: Who Benefits and Why? (CIFOR)
• Forestry’s Contribution to Poverty Reduction: Final Report and Resolutions (Commonwealth Forestry Association)
• Counting on the Environment: Forest Incomes and the Rural Poor (World Bank)
• USAID’s Enduring Legacy in Natural Forests: Livelihoods, Landscapes, and Governance
• Action Research on the Poverty Impacts of Participatory Forest Management (ODI)
• Participatory Forest Management Policy and Practice in South Africa
• Payments for Environmental Services - An equitable approach for reducing poverty and conserving nature (WWF)