The report of the working group on forests and sustainable management of natural resources is a collective effort to introduce and explain the concerns and challenges faced by the sector and the strategy to address them in the Twelfth Five Year Plan. Forests can no longer be considered as nature’s factory that produces wood alone. The focus of the report is the contemporary relevance of the forests, its immense potential and relative neglect. This sector has suffered from financial constraints and there is a growing apprehension that the socioeconomic relevance of the forests would be severely limited if the disadvantages sections continue to be restricted by such constraints. The crucial role of forests in socioeconomic inclusiveness is hard to exaggerate, and if used with deliberation and commitment can be extremely important in resisting economic inequities and reducing poverty and deprivation.