Understanding the influence of the wider society on village woodlands is important for their conservation. Twenty village woodlands in Wando County, South Korea, were investigated in order to assess the role of local governance in the sustainability of village woodlands. It was found that the active participation of village leaders in the conservation of village woodlands matters more than the active participation of villagers. Village woodlands are more likely to be preserved when they are managed as protected areas such as national parks or national natural heritage sites controlled by the state. Many village communities in Korea have management plans and maintain traditional knowledge while creating and protecting their village forests over several hundred years. The government has been providing a systematic infrastructure and financial support to manage the village forests and to promote the participation of village communities. The communities and local and central governments share the common goal of sustainable village woodlands and cooperate through open communications, including consultations and solving disputes, seeking the way toward village woodlands' sustainability. The result of this study suggests that village communities and the state need to cooperate horizontally in order to establish and maintain sustainable village woodlands.