Includes bibliographical references and index.

Chapter 1. Introduction -- Learning from the past : trends and problems in CBNRM -- Chapter 2. Sustainability : the elusive goal of community-based natural resource management -- Chapter 3. Resource use rights and other challenges to the sustainability of community-managed forests -- Chapter 4. Community and power : rethinking the who and the how of community-based management in the Philippines -- Chapter 5. Philippine CBCRM : Lessons from an analysis of participation patterns -- Community -- Chapter 6. Community and participation in irrigation management : findings from the research -- Looking to the future : ideas for the next generation of CBNRM -- Chapter 7. Governance for sustainability and equity : community-based institutions -- Chapter 8. CBNRM, globalization, and international law : global trends and the foundations for a community-based response.

The book focuses on the crucial role of governance in the pursuit of sustainability. In critiquing certain romantic approaches to community, several of the authors highlight the important advantages in creating a specific role for local governemtn in the Philippin CBNRM.