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Community forestry has gradually asserted itself in the early 2000s in indigenous communities of the Humid Tropic of Nicaragua as the best way to reconcile the challenges of sustainable development, creating wealth by extracting timber with participatory norms and technical practices which are more respectful of nature. Ten years later the results are mixed: although community forestry has permitted the emergence of community-based organizations for extracting and commercialization of certified wood, it generated new conflicts over resources management. Based on the IAD approach, this article analyses the institutions governing access and use of forest resources in six miskitu communities of the Northern Atlantic Coast and shows how community forestry has undermined traditional rules of the game, posing new challenges to the local population.