We present here preliminary results from a meso-scale analysis of forest condition in a region of the Western Ghats of India where the nature and extent of forest degradation and its causes have been intensely debated. We use 1 : 35,000 scale aerial photographs of 1973 to generate a detailed land-cover map, and overlay legal forest regime and village boundaries to associate forest condition with the rights regime and village-level socio-economic data. The differences between our land-cover map and an official forest cover map for that region are significant. Although denudation is expectedly higher in areas accessible to local communities than in state-controlled areas, both the absolute levels and the relative differences are much lower than indicated in the official map or earlier studies. Denudation in private access forests appears to be significantly influenced by the cropping patterns in the villages. We discuss the concerns in applying remote sensing and geographic information system techniques to densely populated and diversely utilized forests, highlighting the need for greater access to aerial photographs, the appropriate characterization of forest condition, and attention to slope information and positioning errors.