| Abstract | This paper provides a discussion on the different outcomes of the different forest communities in Asia including a historical analysis on the reasons why other places had a slow progress in terms of forest management and why others attained relative success in their domains. The cases in this paper focus on the countries with the longest and most complex, histories of formal devolution policies: Nepal, India, China, and the Philippines. These cases identify four clear patterns in devolution policy history. First, devolution policies emerged in response to centralist ideologies, institutional structures, and social relations that dominated governments during much of the century. Second, historical analysis reminds us that forest management by local people was interrupted and distorted by years of centralized control. Third, forest users themselves have promoted more democratic, devolved forest management by mobilizing on their own or, more often, in alliance with other civil society groups and progressive government officials, and lastly, historical analysis suggests the importance of learning from the outcomes of past policy interventions in a more systematic and collaborative manner. |