Institutional environments and secondary forests

The paper analyses policy, legal, regulatory frames and other elements of institutional environments and how they have affected cover, condition and the provision of benefits of secondary forests. Three key institutional trends can be observed. One, over the last decade forest policy reforms have continue to change in tropical forest countries and non full-grown natural forests, including secondary forests, have achieved a higher profile in forest policies and legislation. Especially forest land ownership change towards communal tenure has expanded drastically in many places. Much of the forestland over which communities have now ownership rights contains secondary forests and therefore communal control over secondary forests has increased. Two, the continued and expanding efforts in many places in the world to rehabilitate forests has not only focused on forest plantations but also on natural rehabilitation and therefore has contributed to the increase in secondary forests cover, or existing secondary forest has been adopted in forest rehabilitation programs. Three, the private sector has an increased interest in secondary forests, is pursuing investments in secondary forest management and exploitation and is in turn seeking policy and legal reforms that support these initiatives. The paper reviews the relevant changes in policies, legislations and other elements of institutional environments and links these to changes in secondary forest cover and condition, and to a changing actual or predicted supply of forest products and environmental benefits from secondary forests.