While Asia’s rapid growth has lifted millions out of poverty, persistent pockets still remain in areas beyond the embrace of development. Some 450 million people in Asia-Pacific live in and around forests, depending on them for subsistence, shelter and a way of life, which has been indigenous to their societies for generations. However, their status remains largely unacknowledged as governments retain administrative control over two-thirds of forestland in Asia. This publication by Ganga Ram Dahal, Julian Atkinson, and James Bampton finds that lack of political will and a strong preference for the expansion of industrial concessions (both for logging natural forests and agro-industrial plantations) and protected areas are limiting the scope of forest tenure reform in some countries, emphasizing that tenure security is a strong incentive that motivates the protection or destruction of forests.