Forest-linked institutions are rapidly changing in sub-Saharan Africa – suggesting the need for renewed evidence. While growing qualitative evidence suggests changes in forest-linked institutions, there is the dearth of quantitative evidence on the extent of change in institutions and how this shapes forest use practices. To stem this knowledge gap, we draw from a representative sample of 200 forest-dependent households around the Santchou forest landscape, complemented by key informant interviews (N = 17) and focus group discussions (N = 11). We quantitatively analyzed changes in forest-linked institutions and their effects on forest use practices using a two-stage least square (2SLS) approach with heteroscedasticity-based instruments. We corroborate the evidence with thematic analysis ad narratives. We first identified and characterized the structural and functional attributes of forest-linked institutions, and then estimate the effect of structural and functional changes on forest use practices. The results suggest the following: First, traditional council and secret society exhibit similar functional attributes and are dominant forest-linked institutions in the Santchou landscape. Second, endogenously-rooted institutional structures and processes have an exogenous origin. Institutions which were hitherto not designed to regulate forest use have installed themselves as influential regulators of forest use. Third, more than half of the customs and norms have changed over time; some are in a state of dormancy, others have witnessed numerical increase, and others have declined. Functional attributes negatively and significantly explain forest use practices; however, the effect varies between attributes. Finally, farm-based occupation significantly intensifies the level of forest dependency. Future studies are required to uncover the extent to which the different types of farm practices influence forest use practices. From a policy standpoint, emphasis should be placed on the promotion of cultivable NTFPs to complement and reverse the current positive association with farm-based occupation.