Abstract: The collective forests in the nature reserves in China not only provide important ecological resources but also act as the main factors of production and sources of livelihood. How to build a sound policy framework for improving the livelihoods of local residents and strengthening the management of resources utilization has become the focus. In this paper, based on the analysis of the nature reserves construction and the land ownership status, the development problems of the nature reserves were discussed. Meanwhile the difficulties encountered in the tenure reform in the nature reserves were deeply analyzed from the land tenure issues and their causes, the sharp contradiction between local economic development and construction of the nature reserves, the outstanding issues arising from the collective forests in the nature reserves and the challenges faced by the tenure reform of collective forests in the nature reserves. Then some suggestions for the collective tenure reform in the nature reserves were discussed including proper handling of the land tenure issues, constant improvement of protection policy and regulations, actively pushing forward the reform, strengthening the mechanisms of community co-management and participation.

Key words: nature reserves, collective forest tenure, forest tenure reform