Orthophotographs are geometrically rectified and enlarged aerial photographs. They are an ideal tool to support the preparation of participatory inventories of forests and other land resources. They are understood easily, even by villages with no formal training, and they provide a basis for creating accurate maps for resource management plans. The paper describes a combination of the two approaches that provides both scope for participation and geometrically accurate results, and illustrates its use in community forestry planning in a selected area, the Jhikhu Khola watershed in Nepal. Issues discussed are: the preparation of an orthophoto-mosaic of the Jhikku Khola Watershed; use of orthophotographs to support community forestry; training of district forest office staff; field work and transfer to GIS; and results; long term perspectives; and limitations.