This paper analyzes the socio-economic viability of forest tenant farming, a land leasing system that the Lower St. Lawrence Model Forest has been testing in Quebec since 1994. First, forest tenant farming is described, as is the approach used to evaluate this system. The evaluation approach is based on four criteria: viability of tenant farms, costs of general supervision and technical support, socioeconomic impact, and potential for extending the model. The results of five studies are then summarized from the perspective of the evaluation criteria, and the principal issues raised by the testing and extension of forest tenant farming are identified. The paper concludes that this management system is socio-economically viable.

forest tenure, forest tenant farming, community forestry, sustainable rural development