A discussion of the concerns of the environmental movement in the Asia-Pacific region with reference to biological diversity, forest loss, indigenous and forest-dependant people and climate change. The environmental perspective of different aspects of forestry development in the region is elucidated. Three possible scenarios for the future are presented depending on the level of achievement of environmental goals.

La plupart des numros d'Unasylva sont axs sur un thme particulier. L'objectif n'est pas de prsenter une introduction ou un manuel sur le sujet choisi (ce qui serait impossible tant donn le format de la revue), mais plutt de proposer une srie d'analyses sur des aspects spcifiques qui contribuent veiller l'intrt et l'attention du lecteur. Les articles sont dits de faon intresser les lecteurs dont le travail porte essentiellement sur le thme choisi, ainsi que la majorit des lecteurs qui travaillent dans d'autres disciplines.

The purpose of this study is to introduce some of the literature on Common Forest Resource Management from Asia, Africa and Latin America. It is recognized that the three regional reviews of both published and unpublished sources and the issues analyses which constitute this document are not complete. However, it was decided to publish this material in order to present information known to date and identify gaps in our understanding of this important topic.

The Planning Commission set up a Working Group to examine the prospects of leasing out of degraded forests to the private entrepreneurs/ Forest Corporations. The terms of reference for the Group were:-

·  Economic, social and environmental feasibility of leasing or otherwise making degraded forest land to the
private entrepreneurs/ Forest Corporations.

·  Implication of Ninth Plan, forest policy, forest law on this issue.

Manual for researchers in Southeast Asia involved in the economic evaluation of tropical forest land use options. It was developed initially to serve as an aid to Cambodian researchers in the execution of an EEPSEA-financed study of non-timber forest values in Ratanakiri Province, Cambodia. The aim of the manual is to provide non-specialists with a basic theoretical background to economic valuation of the environment and with a practical methodology for an economic evaluation of alternative tropical forest land uses.

The need for new criteria and indicators for the assessment of biodiversity conservation as part of sustainable forest management of tropical forests has been identified as a priority by many international organisations. Those biodiversity criteria and indicators which formed part of a much broader initial assessment by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) (Prabhu et al. 1996) were found to be deficient. This Working Paper contains specific proposals for biodiversity criteria and indicators.

There have been several major research efforts on the rate and causes of Indonesia's deforestation in recent years and much associated literature, but there is still no consensus in the research community on these issues. This paper reviews the areas of uncertainty and confusion, and proposes questions that must be answered to get a better grasp of the subject.

Ce projet financé par le PNUE et mis en oeuvre par le CIFOR s’est intéressé aux forêts tropicales humides d’Afrique occidentale, plus particuliérement au Ghana et au Nigeria, avec des informations complémentaires provenant du Libéria, de Sierra Leone et du Cameroun. L’objectif général était de faire une synthèse de toute l’information disponible sur les formations forestières humides d’Afrique occidentale afin de catalyser les initiatives susceptibles de favoriser l’adoption de principes de gestion durable des forêts dans toute la région. Le rapport se divise en neuf chapitres.

Technology will help to address the challenges for sustainable forestry in the 21st century. Some of the challenges will include the shift of production from native forest to plantations in areas of comparative advantage, more efficient processing delinking end-use products from raw wood characteristics, increased demand, better information technologies to support decision makers, and more options for conserving biodiversity.

An overview of the forest resources and industries of the Union of Myanmar. The long term objectives of forestry in the country are given along with major impacting issues such as land use and people participation. Future scenarios are presented based on current policies and trends.