''Rural communities in Myanmar have numerous economic, environmental, and social opportunities but also face challenges as they seek a clear and solid pathway to development. The Government of Myanmar (GoM), as well as several development and donor organizations, have recognized the potential of community forestry (CF) to address many of these challenges. This recognition has taken the form of targets for CF development (for example, 2.27 million acres [919,000 hectares (ha)] of community forests by fiscal year 2030/31), legal frameworks (for example, Community Forestry Instructions [CFIs], 1995 and 2016), and programs by state and non-state actors (NSAs). The first steps in the development of a CF program in the country started in December 1995 with the issuance of the CFI. The early years of CF, which can be defined as an emergent phase, were limited by legislative and institutional challenges. However, recent years have seen the program develop with focus moving from protection, with limited livelihood opportunities for communities with tenure to their forests, to livelihood and enterprise development, recognizing that forests will only be protected if local communities are allowed and able to tangibly benefit from their forests (for example, revised CFI, 2016 and CF Strategy Action Plan, 2018–2020). This work examines the state of CF and community forest enterprises (CFE) in Myanmar, assessing their impacts, exploring the challenges to and opportunities for their upscaling, and from these putting forward a series of recommendations to ensure that the program sustainably delivers for forest communities as well as Myanmar as a whole...''