Participatory approaches to natural resource management and development are widely accepted as effective instruments for achieving sustainable forest management (SFM) particularly in the developing countries. However, local people live within and adjacent to the forest resources and are dependent on the forest in terms of their livelihoods may prevent turning some decisions, intended as a component of sustainable forest management, into action. This situation arises from the lack of involvement by local stakeholders, a condition that is generally accepted as one of the most important instruments of sustainable forest management. Consequently, forest and other natural resources have not been effectively protected from negative behaviours of local populations. In this study, difficulties that have been faced in acquiring local participation and the importance of local participation for sustainable forest management are discussed using two case studies from Turkey. At acquiring of local participation is considered to important of local perceptions. If perceptions are negative, participation will not obtain. Thus, the study has focused on local perceptions. Field survey was carried out to collect necessary information for each case study. We conclude that decisions that will restrict the natural resource benefits for the local public, will lead to negative local perceptions of the project and lead to adverse behavior and negatively affect sustainable forest management efforts.