About 80 percent of the forested area of the developing world is held under public ownership. Many critics of state ownership argue that public stewardship of forests has been poor, pointing to high rates deforestation on land owned and administered by governments.

The governance of forests in India has been a complex realm to unravel. Due to the multiple claims to ownership, jurisdiction and management of forests through India's modern history, forests have remained a subject of intrigue for all those trying to understand the complex legalities that have operated within a single space.

The purpose of this assessment is to identify the constraints to and opportunities for women‘s participation in REDD+ initiatives, particularly as country REDD+ readiness plans are being developed, as well as to reveal the potential impacts of gender relations on REDD+ initiatives and vice versa.

In ten forest hotspot countries across Africa and South Asia, the IIED-steered Forest Governance Learning Group (FGLG) has been working since 2003 on ways to shift power over forests towards those who enable and pursue sustainable forest-linked livelihoods. This report aims to capture the current thinking and plans of FGLG.