This article discusses the co-management experiences of two tropical protected areas-the Korup National Park (KNP) in Cameroon, and the Natma Taung National Park (NTNP) in Myanmar. The discussion is anchored on the constitutionality construct and opens up reflections to guide future management processes and outcomes for protected areas. Based on a review of articles and institutional reports, complemented by interviews and focus group discussions, we comparatively analyze the manifestations of two constitutionality principles in co-management around the KNP and NTNP, and discuss future co-management perspectives. The paper concludes with reflections on how local level institutions could be activated in protected area management, especially with respect to enforcing catalyzing agents and improving state motivation and recognition of local institutional processes. The results do not only provide necessary ingredients to improve the institution-building process if co-management must become adaptive, but equally opens up new research avenues in the context of local power play and social learning. We argue that further studies should seek to understand conditions, under which catalyzing agents and the state could support and recognize endogenous institution-building processes to improve resource management outcomes.

Land use transformation at the farm level is attributed to household decision-making, reflected by the behavior and activities of smallholder farmers. Unfortunately, household decision-making in local communities and its determinants are site-specific and hardly understood. This study uses multistage purposive selection of households as a unit for the analysis to investigate the transformation from pure agriculture to farm forest mosaics, especially through woodlot establishment. We use key informants, household surveys, and observations to obtain data on decision-making amongst 84 farm households in Nyantonzi parish, Masindi district, Uganda, as an example. Specifically, the study addresses four research questions. Firstly, what is the current status of gender-based decision-making at the household level? Secondly, is decision making within farm households individualistic or collective? Thirdly, which factors are considered to select annual, perennial and tree-crop farm management regimes? Fourthly, what determinants influence the decision-making process and the likelihood of woodlot establishment? A multilevel analysis comprising parametric statistical models and binary logistic regression is applied to assess difference in household natural, physical, human, and social capital, highlight gender roles, and obtain factors associated to selection of crops and determinants of woodlot establishment at the farm level, respectively. Results reveal that gender based decision-making is clearly disaggregated on the basis of husbands and wives and it is individualistic, mostly dominated by husbands with lower participation by wives and other family members. Households consider various factors before making any decisions, e.g., market prices for both annual and perennial crops, food consumption for annual crops, ease of management, and yields from the previous season for the tree-crop management regimes. The likelihood for woodlot establishment is positively influenced by the willingness and intention of households to establish woodlots and relative age of household head. However, knowledge of land use Policies, Laws, and Regulations (PLRs) in relation to tree planting and harvesting and access to non-farm income reduce the likelihood of woodlot establishment. Here, we recommend that current and future forest land restoration initiatives focus on reducing the gender gap and increase women’s participation in decision making, provide market information platforms on wood products, and include woodlot farmers in social organization. Current PLRs on tree tenure should be improved and clearly communicated by using the existing communication assets and social gatherings as channels of change and influence for decision-making.

Improving forest product value chains is considered a means to solve forest-related challenges in the Global South. The ‘Participative Innovation Platform’ (PIP) instrument has been developed to design and to continually adapt solutions and strategies for effective cooperation amongst value chain actors. The instrument is rooted in the action-oriented and social learning approach, combined with the concept of innovation systems. This paper presents findings from three PIPs conducted for upgrading non-timber forest product value chains in Ethiopia (bamboo, natural gums) and Sudan (gum Arabic). A comparative analysis of highest ranked contents revealed similarities in the challenges: lack of government support, poor infrastructure, producers’ lack of knowledge and skills, and lack of market information. Priority upgrading measures focused on producers’ knowledge, skills, and capacity to engage in collective action and to lobby interests, and on capital resources to invest in processing technology. It is concluded that although the PIP instrument presents an innovative way to upgrade forest-based value chains, the instrument requires a long-term process with frequently held platform meetings, conducted by neutral institutions with skilled moderators. Crucial in this process is the need to consistently verify and ensure that all actor groups of the chain are represented, and are confident they will derive benefits from the value chain upgrading.