Following important reforms in the forestry sector and public administration, new forest management systems implemented in Mali share the concept of Rural Wood Markets, which is a delimited forest with a harvesting quota, a point of sale and a management agency. The aims of these reforms are, among other things, to improve the living conditions of vulnerable target groups, including the poor in general and women. On the basis of social, institutional and economic data gathered in three villages in the Dioïla area, this chapter discusses the nature and socioeconomic consequences of the reforms. We show that the implementation of the system from 1999 to 2002 triggered real economic changes for woodcutters, allowing them to cope with food deficits but also to invest in equipment. It is also an opportunity for selective wealth redistribution, with special roles attributed to foresters and board members. The markets have also changed the micro-political arena. Generating new powers, they challenge narratives of chieftaincy and autochthony with modern skills.