If the resource is perceived as abundant, there is no reason for communities to organise either. Thus, community self-management of forests is more likely to occur when local people have already observed a substantial decrease in existing forest resources. If over-logged tropical forests are set aside, they may regenerate to recover ecosystem functions. However, the cost and complexity of these operations cannot be underestimated (Whitmore 1975; Banerjee 1994). A major impediment facing existing community forestry projects in Cambodia stems from the relatively high costs incurred by users for managing degraded or non-existent forest resources, when compared to the limited benefits generated from non-timber forest resources. Heavily degraded land and scrubland not only have reduced growing stocks of trees but also reduced ecological productivity for non-timber forest products.