70 Int. J. Sustainable Society, Vol. 2, No. 1, 2010 Copyright © 2010 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. Responsibility for the forest in Côte d’Ivoire: where are we now? Jérôme Ballet* Center of Ethics and Economics for Environment and Development, University of Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines, 47 bd Vauban, Guyancourt Cedex 78047, France E-mail: jballetfr@yahoo.fr *Corresponding author Kouamékan J.M. Koffi University of Bouaké, 08 BP 1295 Abidjan 08 Côte d’Ivoire, France E-mail: boniface_komena@yahoo.com Kouadio B. Komena Center of Ethics and Economics for Environment and Development, University of Versailles Saint Quentin en Yvelines, 47 bd Vauban, Guyancourt Cedex 78047, France E-mail: elbiotic@yahoo.com Abstract: Forest management in Côte d’Ivoire has been completely revised over the past 20 years with the introduction of joint management and the sustainability approach. However, the policies implemented so far have shown themselves to be wanting in terms of conservation. They have run into problems linked to a lack of effectiveness, and a failure to give secure land tenure to peasants. To make these policies more effective, what is called for is a switch from joint management to joint responsibility. Keywords: forests; responsibility; joint management; property rights; Côte d’Ivoire. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Ballet, J., Koffi, K.J.M. and Komena, K.B. (2010) ‘Responsibility for the forest in Côte d’Ivoire: where are we now?’, Int. J. Sustainable Society, Vol. 2, No. 1, pp.70–84. Biographical notes: Jérôme Ballet is a Senior Lecturer at the University of Versailles Saint Quentin, France. He is also a Researcher at Fund for Research in Ethics and Economics (FREE). His main researches are on links between ethical dilemmas and economic development.