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The sacred groves along the forest belts of south India, which were traditionally managed by village communities, are gradually disappearing. This study conducts an analysis of how this community‐based resource management institution has evolved over time and what socio‐economic factors have caused its gradual disintegration. Commercial agriculture, changing demographics and weak property‐rights systems are found to be some of the enabling factors. While the grass‐roots enthusiasm to save the sacred groves is still alive, government action is needed to strengthen the traditional village organizations, which are still perhaps in the best position to manage local resources. Several economic and financial incentive mechanisms at the local level that might lead to more efficient and equitable resource use outcomes are suggested.

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About a quarter of Chinese wild orchid species are used in traditional medicine or as health food supplements. The market demand for some species, such as those in the epiphytic genus Dendrobium, has diminished many wild populations to local extinction or dangerously small numbers. Conservation of these heavily exploited orchids currently relies on a two-pronged approach: establishing nature reserves and encouraging massive commercial cultivation in artificial settings. We argue that these measures are not sufficient to restore or maintain healthy wild populations, and augmentation and reintroduction of these species in natural forests are needed. We argue for an unconventional reintroduction Communicated by Danna J. Leaman.Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (approach, in which populations planted in natural forests are allowed to be sustainably harvested (restoration-friendly cultivation). Because Dendrobium orchids are epiphytic, restoration-friendly cultivation of these species will not be at the expenses of other native plants. In addition, market premiums on wild-collected medicinal plants will generate incentives for farmers who participate in restoration-friendly cultivation to preserve natural forests. With proper policy and oversight, the restoration-friendly cultivation of medicinal Dendrobium orchids will facilitate the conservation of these threatened species, encourage protection of natural forests, and benefit marginalized rural communities. Adding this restoration-friendly cultivation into the current mix of conservation approaches has the potential to turn deeply-entrenched traditional uses of orchids from a conservation challenge to a conservation success.

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This paper examines dynamically optimal trapping strategies for a resident beaver population causing damage to privately‐held timber land. An extreme elimination strategy does not account for the dispersive behavior of neighboring beaver populations in filling the resulting environmental vacuum. This negative externality is accounted for by embedding an ecological model of small‐mammal dispersive dynamics into an optimization framework minimizing the sum of discounted timber damage and trapping costs. The optimal balance that timber producers must strike between the benefits of leaving sufficient resident numbers to deter foreign invasions and the costs of timber damage caused by these “protectors” is characterized.