Deforestation is giving way to forest regeneration in some tropical regions. We investigate such "forest transitions" in two biodiversity-rich countries. A case study near the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica shows how synergies between international conservation ideologies, neo-liberal reforms, tourism (and associated real estate investment), and migration (as one strategy for livelihood diversification) lead to increased forest cover. We find these factors widespread in Costa Rica as a whole. In Madagascar, by contrast, while the factors are present to varying degrees, similar trends are largely absent. Many analysts compare tropical forest transitions to the forest history of modernizing temperate countries. While our findings may appear consistent with such models based on processes of modernization, they are comprehensible only with reference to contemporary forces of globalization. We conclude that globalization has diverse impacts shaped by regional contexts; these can include the benefits of reforestation but also the costs of social marginalization.