The paper introduces the Special Issue of International Forestry Review, Smallholders and forest landscape transitions: Locally devised development strategies of the tropical Americas. It reviews the existing knowledge on the role of smallholders in rural development, and then contrasts this with the major insights gained from the studies presented in this Special Issue. The paper shows that while there is opportunity to more actively engage smallholders in local development and environmental protection of tropical America, this requires major changes in policy design and implementation. Within the prevailing policy frameworks only a smaller proportion of smallholder families can become economically successful, providing they receive the right support. If policy frameworks are better adapted to the needs and capacities of smallholders, their role in regional sustainable development can be significantly boosted. Whether such a shift of the policy framework is likely in a world where relevant policy mechanisms are dominated by decision makers representing the interests of the societies in urban and developed contexts is an open question. The fact that also these societies will be increasingly faced with the severe effects of climate change, poverty migration, financial crises and food insecurity give grounds for a cautious optimism that more integrative approaches to rural development will be pursued that put smallholders of tropical America and elsewhere, and nature at the centre.

The socioeconomic outcomes after five years of community forest management are examined in the Virola-Jatobá Sustainable Development Project (PDS) in Anapu, Brazilian Amazon. In 2007 families were advised by public agencies to establish community-company partnerships for forest management (FM) in this settlement. Operations in 3,000 ha extracted 50,000 m³ of timber, generating gross revenues of US$ 2 million for the local association. This paper examines collective action in key stages of land access and FM. The impacts of the FM process on social structures are explored. Since recent regulations have prohibited private companies to control FM in agrarian reform settlements, local administrative efforts need to change. We will thus evaluate prospects for a system of governance under direct coordination of producers’ organisations. Management changes are seen as positive if combined with public support for local capacity building, but this is unlikely in the short term. Given limits for agricultural land use, effective FM is critical for these groups in order to consolidate land occupation and properly manage natural resources.

Smallholders control an important portion of forestlands in the Ecuadorian Amazon. Timber is not the main source of income but contributes to complement relatively diversified livelihood strategies of smallholders. Timber extraction is stimulated by a vigorous network of intermediaries linked to the end-markets in the cities. Most small-scale operations are undertaken informally since smallholders require complying with still cumbersome procedures in spite of state efforts for simplifying the forestry regulations. Benefits for smallholders from timber extraction depend on how the harvesting operations are organized and whether they involve the participation of smallholders as well as on the species harvested, and whether these operations are conducted with a formal permit or not. This paper assesses the role of timber in smallholders' livelihoods, the influence of how timber operations are undertaken has on benefits distribution, and the role that urban markets have on shaping the dynamics of timber supply.

The sparse documentation of local knowledge of Guadua (Poaceae: Bambuseae)-dominated forests has hampered development of sound timber and multiple-use management plans for this forest type. The benefits and constraints of smallholder management systems were evaluated within the context of bamboo-dominated forests using available scientific literature, local knowledge in Acre, Brazil, and botanical survey data. Scientific literature on the subject pointed to numerous benefits of Guadua-dominated forests, including fertile soil for the cultivation of important agricultural crops, results corroborated by local forest managers. Interviews with local informants also substantiated that tree removal by logging crews has favoured bamboo expansion and increased fire risk—views that correspond with the scientific literature on anthropogenic disturbances in bamboo-dominated forests. Yet, these same informants identified the important role that this forest type plays in their broader land management strategies. Field plots to quantify local tree species composition indicated the relative suitability of the Guadua-dominated site for diversification of forest management strategies. Our results suggest that integration of local and scientific bodies of knowledge can be an effective approach to sustain the natural resource base within the context of local communities. Indeed, the low commercial timber volumes associated with Guadua-dominated forests may not provide sufficient income over the long-term for landowners. Instead, this forest type should be managed based on locally-identified conservation and socioeconomic goals that support resource management strategies along the forest and land use transition curve.

In Mexico, REDD is being presented as a win-win policy enabling forest communities to benefit financially and diversify their income sources while preserving and increasing their forest carbon stocks through more sustainable management. Under the national programme, it is expected that forest communities will have opportunities to tailor their own approaches. However, to date there is little understanding about what opportunities and constraints exist in reality for forest communities to contribute to REDD , and even less about how their members perceive these opportunities. We assess potential and constraints at community level and investigate perceptions about opportunities in REDD and strategies that communities are currently envisaging for participation, in seven communities in the Ayuquila River Basin and around the Chamela-Cuixmala Biosphere Reserve in Jalisco, and in the area surrounding the Monarch Butterfly Reserve in Michoacan. We find that there is more opportunity for reduced degradation and forest enhancement than for reduced deforestation, in all the communities; that it may be difficult to establish additionality for REDD activities in some communities; that the amount of forest resource per community may greatly affect the potential to participate; that the presence of people with no land rights may complicate the distribution of benefits; that communities expect REDD in general to follow the Payment for Environmental Services model, and that lack of information about what activities may count as REDD activities and what level of financial rewards may be expected mean that communities cannot at present adequately appraise whether REDD will be worth their while or not.

Among the options for sustainable exploitation of forests, extraction of a range of non-timber forest products presents low environmental impact. This paper develops a Social Account Matrix (SAM) for the Amazon region which describes the structure of jobs and income creation in those non-timber activities and highlights the linkages with the rest of the economy, as well as the degree of processing of forest products both for local use and exports. SAM-based multipliers are derived to analyse the interconnection between the forest sectors and the rest of the economy. Results show the limitation of those activities in terms of jobs and income creation, although labour multipliers in some primary activities, as well as in their processing industries, were found to be high. Logging and timber related activities were shown to play the most prominent role in the Amazon economy among all the forest activities.

The paper takes a look at territorial policies employed in recent decades and, in particular, the policies of regional development and of endogenous development, and maintains that endogenous development policy constitutes a step forward over regional policies. Endogenous development strives to obtain self-sustained development in backward regions and argues that institutions that facilitate the introduction of innovations leading to diversification of productive activities and market access are key to the process. Hence, local actors must come to agreements as to strategies and goals, while local communities must participate in the management and control of development initiatives. However, the accommodation of the interests of economic and political elites with those of local communities is complex since common-law norms are not easily substituted. Therefore, development in the tropics always involves a slow process and requires specific actions and initiatives for each place.

This study investigates impacts and implications of recent landscape change in rural Mexico, through a case study in the Usumacinta Valley of eastern Chiapas. It addresses types of livelihood diversification strategies associated with changing land cover from 1984–2013, and the processes and roles that vary by actors and their scales of influence. After widespread forest loss and the expansion of extensive cattle ranching during the twentieth century, the region has exhibited several new economic and livelihood strategies in recent decades. Results from a combination of satellite imagery analysis and individual interviews from a wide range of land use decision makers demonstrate the dynamism of this landscape. The introduction of new crops, including teak, rubber and oil palm, as well as off-farm work, continue to shape the social and physical landscape and differentially impact the adaptive capacities of residents. Results indicate that small landholders often need to incorporate more crops into their agricultural portfolio and increase off-farm activities, leading to an atomization of livelihood strategies. By contrast, large landholders are able to pursue more specialized and lucrative agricultural opportunities.

REDD has been perceived in Brazil as a way of complementing an effective command-and-control policy to help small-scale farmers transition out of deforestation. A large array of incentives have been suggested within the REDD framework, involving trade-offs between efficiency and equity. However, few studies have so far addressed the adaptation of these incentives to the needs of the farmers. In order to develop this perspective, our work aims at understanding how small-scale farmers perceive deforestation and what would make them engage in a transition towards sustainable alternatives. Interviews were conducted in São Felix do Xingu, where The Nature Conservancy has been developing a REDD pilot programme. The three discourses identified following the application of Q methodology reveal differing needs to reduce deforestation. If equity is defined as the opportunity for all to engage in a transition, a differentiated REDD initiative targeting the farmers' needs may be more equitable than standardized support options.