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The work of Gerald Foley, who prepared successive drafts of the text of this book, is gratefully acknowledged.
Thanks are due to Miriam Ostria of The Nature Conservancy (Latin America Program), who provided figures on debt-fornature-swaps, and to Dr David Wood, who provided information on the valuing of biodiversity.
Inputs to this document and reviews of the text were made by the following FAO staff members: Philippe Alirol, Jim Ball, Jim Bourke, Susan Braatz, C. Chandrasekharan, Gil Child, Mafa Chipeta, Bill Ciesla, Louis Deherve, Dennis Dykstra, Stephen Dembner, Marilyn Hoskins, Kiaus Janz, Michel Malagnoux, Tage Michaelsen, Marc de Montalembert, Rudi Heinrich, Jean Paul Lanly, Claude Léger, Soren Lund, Tage Michaelsen, C. H. Murray, S. Muttiah, Francis Ng, Christel Palmberg-Lerche, Christophe Racaut, El Hadji Sène, Wim Sombroek, Paul Vantomme, Philip Wardle and others. Editing was by Jim Ball.
Grateful acknowledgement is made to the authors of the technical papers specially commissioned by FAO that form the foundation of this book. These papers, which will be published shortly by the FAO Forestry Department, are as follows.
On sustainable forest management (with wood production as a
main focus and including wood for energy)
- Sustainable management of tropical moist forest for wood,
by A. J. Leslie
- Aménagement des forêts claires et des savanes en zone
soudano-sahélienne (Management of woodlands and savannas in the
Sudanian-Sahelian zone), by M. Soto Flandez and K. Ouedraogo.
- Sustainable management of plantation forest in the tropics
and subtropics, by E. Campinhos Jr.
On managing forests for non-wood forest products
- Sustainable management of forests in the tropics and
subtropics for nonwood forest products, by G. Wickens.
On management for soil and water conservation
- Management for soil and water conservation, by T.
Michaelsen.
On wildlife management
- Ensuring sustainable management of wildlife resources:
the case of Africa, by S. S. Ajayi.
On conserving forest biodiversity
- Conserving genetic resources in forest ecosystems,
by R. Kemp and C. Palmberg-Lerche.
On sustainable forest management, protection and climate
change
- Climate change and sustainable forest management, by
D. C. Maciver.
- Ensuring sustainability of forests through protection from
fire, insects and disease, by W. M. Ciesla.
On policy, institutional and legal aspects of sustainable
forest management
- Policy, legal and institutional aspects of sustainable
forest management, by M. R. de Montalembert and F.
Schmithüsen.
On socio-economic aspects
- People's participation in forest and tree management,
by M. Hoskins.
On research for sustainable forest management
- Research for sustainable forest management, by
Salleh Mohamed Nor and F. Ng.
On national policies, programmes and experiences in
sustainable forest management-case profiles
- Bases para el desarrollo forestal sustentable en Chile y
tareas pendientes (The basis and action required for sustainable
forestry development in Chile), by Juan Franco de la Jara.
- National policies, programmes and experience in sustainable
forest management: the case of Indonesia, by Daryadi Lukito.
- Sweden: using the forest as a renewable resource, by R.
Hagglund.
- La gestion forestière durable: la conservation et le
développement durable des forêts en Europe (sustainable forest
conservation and development in Europe: the example of France),
by J. Gadant.
- New perspectives for managing the United States national
forest system, by H. Salwasser, D. W. MacCleary and T. A.
Snellgrove.
The loss and degradation of the world's forests could have far-reaching consequences for humanity. This book is a contribution to increasing public awareness of the issues involved and to furthering the implementation of sustainable forest management and of sustainable land use. It stresses the importance of the involvement of an informed public in debate and decisions leading to policy formulation. The book describes the need for new and improved methods of assessing the values of services provided by forests, including indirect benefits, which would greatly improve the prospects for meeting the funding needs for sustainable forest management. Also addressed is the need to confront many economic and social problems which, although arising outside the forests, have major impacts on the forest resource.
Much of the body of literature on sustainable forest management has been written in technical terms for an audience of specialists. This book is aimed primarily at a non-technical audience, including decision-makers and the concerned general public. It will, however, be of value to those foresters whose professional education was completed before the concept of sustainebility was expanded beyond the sustained supply of timber to include all of the goods and services provided by forests.