Abstract The deterioration of the woodfuel resource base in developing countries is being increasingly perceived as a problem of land management. Given this focus, the economics of natural resource use can provide a framework appropriate for an integrated analysis of environmental and energy-related issues of biomass resource management. The resulting policy implications underscore the virtues involved in the trend towards privatization and commercialization in agriculture and land titling. The government's role in this process is to improve and reinforce the incentive system for a more efficient and environmentally benign utilization of natural resources, unless imbalances are pervasive and need to be redressed immediately.