Forestry Management for Sustainable Development Book

This report is based on papers prepared for, and discussions held at the regional seminar on " Forestry Management for Sustainable Development " which took place in Genting Highlands, Malaysia. The papers discuss the crisis in Asian forestry, of which three immediate causes are identified: clearing the forest for farming, demand for firewood and fodder, and excessive commercial logging. These factors are aggravated by population growth and infrastructure and industrial development. The messages which emerged from the seminar are that forests have multiple uses and users; that the demands placed by society on forestry institutions have changed in the past four decades, but forestry institutions are unprepared to cope with the changes; that Asian forests are in crisis and unless forests are seen in a new light and used to fuel economic development and alleviate poverty, they will remain in crisis. The major failures behind the forestry crisis - failure of economic policy, failure of forestry institutions to anticipate and adjust to new demands, and technological failure. Solutions to these failures were discussed.