Community-based forestry and the changes in tenure and access rights in the Mayan Biosphere Reserve, Guatemala

Clear rights over resources and locally legitimised tenure regimes for managing natural resources are essential for good governance in forest areas. External efforts to change local development conditions and the goals of natural resource-dependent communities — be they attempts to link them to commodity markets as a poverty alleviation strategy, schemes for environmental services rewards, or participation in international treaties to mitigate climate change, must build upon this level of collective action and social legitimacy to be successful. Internationally promoted conservation..