Community-based forest management (CBFM), also known as community forestry, social forestry, joint forest management or participatory forestry, has emerged in response to the concern that centralized forest ownership in most developing countries has failed to promote sustainable forest management (SFM). This chapter provides an overview of CBFM in the tropics. We first discuss the origins and evolution of CBFM, followed by governance issues relating to CBFM, the factors affecting the success (and failure) of CBFM, the design and implementation of CBFM, and CBFM in international forest policy and management.