Multi-Criteria Analysis (MCA) is a decision-making tool developed for complex problems. In a situation where multiple criteria are involved confusion can arise if a logical, well-structured decision-making process is not followed. Another difficulty in decision making is that reaching a general consensus in a multidisciplinary team can be very difficult to achieve. By using MCA the members don't have to agree on the relative importance of the Criteria or the rankings of the alternatives.

This manual provides methods for the development and evaluation of criteria and indicators (C&I) which can then be used to assess the sustainability of forest management. The manual is written primarily for researchers, people or groups interested in evaluating C&I for assessments of forests in new areas, or as a reference for readers wanting to know how CIFOR’s Generic Template was produced. The methods presented are aimed at the development of sets of C&I for natural forest at the forest management unit (FMU) level, especially in the tropics.

Developments in the international institutional context and in the capacity of governments to ensure sustainable forest management in Central Africa lead to new approaches to participatory management being explored. The author reviews current initiatives in this field in Congo Brazzaville, Gabon, Cameroon, Central African Republic and Equatorial Guinea. Such initiatives are still in an experimental stage and aim at answering issues linked with conventional forest management as well as meeting prerequisites imposed by international organisations for granting aid to development.

Cette etude a ete realisee en 1997-98 par le CIFOR en collaboration avec les institutions et les chercheurs camerounais, grace a l'appui financier du DFID du Royaume-Uni. Son objectif general est de compendre les causes qui expliqueraient le taux de deforestation beaucoup plus elevependantla crise economique (qui commenca en 1986) par rapport a ala periode avant le debut de la crise. Le project de recherche a examine les effects de la crise sur les migrations, les systemes de cultures, la division sexuelle du travail et leur incidence sur le couvert forestier.

Secondary and logged-over tropical forests cover more than 600 million hectares. An international workshop held in Bogor (Indonesia) in November 1997 provided a forum of discussion on the research priorities for the sustainable management of secondary forests in Indonesia and more generally in South East Asia. Secondary forests were defined as: "woody vegetation regrowing on land whose previous forest cover was destroyed by at least 90 % by human activities or natural disaster".

Personal anecdotes are used to highlight some important considerations for yield regulation and to introduce some pertinent literature. A checklist of key issues and research needs is offered. Perhaps the most important consideration is to maintain a holistic systems view, and to involve clients and to ensure their needs are met.

These guidelines form the basis for defining the initial set of activities to be classified as Reduced-Impact Logging (RIL). They have been adapted to and will be tested in the local conditions that occur in the lowland and hill dipterocarp forest of the Bulungan Model Forest project in East Kalimantan, Indonesia.

A principal criterion for classifying a tourism operation as 'ecotourism' is that local residents at the site should receive substantial economic benefits, which serve both to raise local living standards and as enhanced incentives for nature conservation. This paper sets out a methodological framework for analysis of the alleged participation-income-conservation link, and applies it to the Cuyabeno Wildlife Reserve in the Ecuadorian Amazon region.