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Governments are increasingly involving local communities and non-governmental organizations in the management of natural resources. The ways in which different stakeholders are involved varies from being consulted to taking a central role in planning and monitoring, andinfrequentlybeing given the legal right to manage resources. There can be many benefits from involving a wider group of stakeholders in natural resource management, including reducing the burden on government agencies, reducing conflicts, and greater resource efficiency. This is part of a series of eight linked papers in this special issue of the International Review for Environmental Strategies describing a study to draw from the RISPO Good Practices Inventory useful lessons for environmental policymakers in developing countries. The study was based on analysis of case studies collected by the project Research on Innovative and Strategic Policy Options (RISPO), which was led by the Institute for Global Environmental Studies, Hayama, Japan.

This study highlights how participation by different stakeholder, governments, local/indigenous people, NGOs and the private sector, in natural resource management in Asia leads to resource efficiency for the government, contributes to broader devolution of power, and reflects the changing attitude of governments towards people’s participation. The findings should encourage governments to extend community management of natural resources to other ecosystems, such as coastal fisheries or production forests.