Drivers of regrowth in South Asia's human impacted forests.

While loss of forest cover continues to represent a serious environmental challenge, significant reforesta�tion is taking place in many parts of the world. This article assesses the institutional factors that impact forest management in developing countries, with a focus on Nepal and India. Research methods link empirical results obtained from multiple methods in multiple field settings at different temporal and spa�tial scales to look at the human drivers of forest cover change across a range of social-ecological contexts. The legitimacy of ownership, degree of monitoring, density of forest users, and the flexibility to adapt to changing conditions appear critical factors, although the official designation of a forest tenure regime does not appear to be as important.