The imperative of sustainable development suggests reconsidering the status and use of natural resources. It leads French Guiana to claim self-rule regarding the management of its natural resources, paramount among them : the tropical forest.Reference to market-based instruments in environmental policies has created new commodities. International conventions thus generated vast expectations about merchandising genetic resources (Convention on Biological Diversity) or carbon (Convention on Climate Change). Access to these potential markets remains however highly problematic for French Guiana. While its inclusion in the Amazonian ecosystem provides many benefits, its status as a French department prohibits a free use of its forest resources.French Guiana looks consequently for new ways to exploit the forest through endogenous development policies, breaking with national policies. It thus offers institutions and specific legislation for genetic resources, based on the experience of the Amazonian Park of French Guiana. It also implements a policy of energy independence from biomass, linking the energy issue with forestry, agricultural settlements and land use planningOur research topics focus on dissemination of internationally developed environmental standards and their adaptation to local conditions. Addressing jointly biodiversity and biomass helps to illustrate regular patterns and limitations in strategies for sustainable development.