Concern over the possible impacts of physical and economical displacement from protected areas is widespread and growing. Partly as a consequence of this there is now an increasing tendency to promote only voluntary displacement from protected areas. There are, however, good reasons to be cautious before welcoming this policy shift. In the first instance we should note that the extent of past evictions is far from clear, but that the demand for future displacement is likely to rise. Second, it is not always easy to distinguish voluntary from forced displacement.