Aimed at policy-makers and practitioners, this work looks at how local and indigenous communities can maintain the balance between their societies and their forest environments when faced with increasing external pressures, rising populations and growing demands for basic needs and cash. While efforts by governments or coporations to restore and manage forest environments are often non-existent or ineffective, there frequently exists, within communities who depend on forests, a wealth of knowledge about rational land use and environmental protection. The case studies in this volume come from all around the world, including tropical, temperate and boreal zones. They come from local groups involved in alternative, local citizens initiatives to sustain the forest and to adapt local management systems to changing circustances. They present their experiences and recommendations on how to re-establish community control over forest lands and preserve them for the future.