This report was commissioned in July 1999 as a follow-up to an earlier report published by FAO in 1991 entitled "High-Value Markets for Tropical Sawnwood, Plywood and Veneer in the European Community". Roger Cooper of the School of Agricultural and Forest Sciences, University of Wales, Bangor, United Kingdom, and Ceri Loxton and Mark Hughes, both of the BioComposites Centre, University of Wales, were involved in the preparation of the report. FAO would like to thank the authors for their excellent work.
In FAO the project was a joint activity of the Forest Products Division and the Forest Resources Division. Direct technical supervision was the responsibility of Mr L. Lintu of the Forest Products Division, with additional inputs being provided by Mr I.J. Bourke of the Forest Products Division and Mr J.B. Carle of the Forest Resources Division.
Of particular note is the trust fund support provided to this study by the United Kingdom Department for International Development (DFID) through its FAO project GCP/INT/628/UK - "Timber Production from Hardwood Plantations in the Tropics and Sub-tropics", implemented by the FAO Forest Resources Division. Additional FAO funds were provided from the Forest Products Division's Regular Programme budget.
FAO and the authors of the report would like to express their sincere thanks to the many individuals and organizations that responded to the approaches by the consultants for information and advice.
Appreciation is also recorded to Ms Elisa Rubini, Secretary in the Forest Products Division, for her excellent work in editing and formatting the document for publication.