A vast savannah devoid of people and crops, a stretch of roadside gully, or a field border may seem of limited economic value. A forested area may seem to be valuable only in terms of its stand of commercially viable timber. But such landscapes can contain countless wild resources that make a significant contribution to local people’s needs and national economies. Many natural resource management policies overlook these more hidden This paper explores methodological alternatives for understanding the value of wild resources at the local level. The methodology involves seeking local level perspectives on economic questions about resource values and incentives. This paper describes the methodological approach adopted, its conceptual background, and the debates and dilemmas encountered along the way, using examples from the case studies in Zimbabwe, Botswana, Brazil, Nigeria, and Papua New Guinea.

Today's climate of supranational interests, decentralisation, privatisation, environmental concern and uncertainty are creating much pressure on public sector forestry institutions. Such institutions need to be more sophisticated to operate in this climate, and a current priority is to reform the State's role in an increasingly complex environment. This review presents brief case studies of institutional change in public sector forestry, from India, Ghana, Sri Lanka, Bolivia and Mali. It assesses the roles and impacts of development assistance agencies, in particular DFID and the World Bank, as they have significant experience in the area of supporting institutional change in forestry. Based on these preliminary assessments, and a review of the literature, it suggests some principles for the processes of institutional change, prepared from the angle of development assistance. An annotated bibliography is included.

This Discussion Paper reviews participatory approaches to monitoring environmental change. It draws on published literature, interviews with practitioners, and the practical experiences of a research project on participatory monitoring of sustainable agriculture in Brazil. This project seeks to develop a viable and relevant monitoring process with farmers, farmers unions, and NGOs to help assess the social and environmental impacts of their efforts in developing more sustainable forms of agriculture. ~The term ‘participatory monitoring’ is used to describe a wide range of practices. Here we use it to describe monitoring approaches that develop partnerships of multiple stakeholders for efficient, effective and socially inclusive monitoring. The drive for accountability and the need for more information to improve planning processes have given great impetus to participatory monitoring. This publication provides comprehensive practical examples that can be drawn upon to support or refute the claims regarding Participatory Monitoring and Evaluation.