This assumes that the natural resources are of direct value to the district and its people - an assumption not always true where, historically conservation benefits were often externally accrued. It also provides, though it does not guarantee, opportunities for increased participation of communities in forestry and woodland management, by the better integration of issues at the district level through the various district development committees and institutions. Within the region there are many areas of high conservation value, the forests and important woodlands being one important set of natural resources. Many of these areas are also of high agricultural potential and high population densities due to ample rainfall and fertile soils. This makes it difficult for conservation policy to balance rural livelihood needs, land production capability, and local, national and international conservation objectives.
Economic improvement is both a moral imperative and essential for environmental sustainability.
Previously economic growth and environmental protection were carried out in isolation from each other and from the local level, often resulting in accelerated degradation. Thus the deeper agenda, for most conservationists, is to make nature and natural products meaningful to rural communities. As far as local communities are concerned, the agenda is to regain control over natural resources, and through conservation practices, improve their economic well being. As a means to improve their economic well being, communities will only invest, where they can get better and quicker returns, within a short term, though there are important exceptions to this, for example forest areas of cultural and spiritual importance. This review explores a particular niche in this conservation landscape, that of trees and forest conservation from the context of the rural people and stakeholders who use those trees in different ways for different reasons.