The findings of environmental history are in the service of ecology and represent an important contribution to the understanding of the sustainable management of land. The aim of this article is to shed light on the relations between the local population and the authorities regarding the afforestation of common land in Komen in the second half of the 19th century and the beginning of the 20th century, placing them in a broader Mediterranean context. The local population was not opposed to afforestation per se, but to the prohibition of usufruct on afforested land, which had major economic consequences for the local population. Authorities did not always take into consideration the annual agricultural processes, local customs, and natural resource needs in their afforestation decisions. The prohibition of usufruct was followed by a shortage of fodder and firewood, which led to forest violations to satisfy demands. Thus, afforestation has undermined the basis of agriculture. In addition, already afforested land remained under common ownership for a relatively long time.Ugotovitve okoljske zgodovine delujejo v službi ekologije in predstavljajo pomemben prispevek k razumevanju trajnostnega upravljanja prostorov. Prispevek osvetliti odnos med lokalnim prebivalstvom in oblastjo na temo pogozdovanja skupnih zemljišč v Komnu v drugi polovici 19. in v začetku 20. stoletja ter slednje postavi v širši sredozemski kontekst. Lokalno prebivalstvo ni bilo uprto proti samem pogozdovanju, temveč proti prepovedi užitkov na pogozdenih zemljiščih, ki je imela velike ekonomske posledice za lokalno prebivalstvo. Oblast pri pogozdovalnih odločbah ni vedno upoštevala letnega kmetijskega procesa, lokalnih navad in potreb po naravnih virih. Prepovedi užitkov je sledilo pomanjkanje krme in drv, ki se odrazilo v gozdnih prekrških. Pogozdovanje je tako spodvrglo osnovo kmetovanja. Poleg tega pa so pogozdena zemljišča relativno dolgo časa ostala v skupni lasti
