Over the last decade Participatory Forest Management (PFM)1 activities have attracted a large amount of donor funding and international interest. DFID, for example, was already funding over 200 PFM projects in 1997, and many countries are now implementing or experimenting with some form of PFM. While there has been some synthesis of experience and dissemination of lessons learned from PFM initiatives around the world, this has often focused on promoting PFM and spreading ‘good news’ rather than critically appraising experience and analysing the problems in carrying out PFM. This research set out to ascertain what exactly the problems are and whether such problems are situation-specific or whether they could be overcome by strategic research interventions.