The international perspective for this book is the unprecedented level
of concern over deforestation, recognized by the meeting of world
leaders at the 1992 Earth Summit, in Rio do Janeiro, and culminating in
the appoint- ment of the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests (IPF), under
the auspices of the UN Commission on Sustainable Development. The wide
range of issues covered by the authors in this volume reflects the
breadth of the interna- tional debate, from national policies and
activist campaigning, through eco- nomic and social objectives, to the
sustainable management of forest and soil resources. Since the
conservation campaigns of the 1980s, the focus of international concern
has widened from tropical rain forests to all forest formations, in all
regions, with increased recognition of global values and common
responsibil- ities. However, while forest cover in some temperate
countries is increasing, irrational deforestation, at historically
unprecedented levels of damage to biodiversity and to other
environmental values, remains most acute in tropi- cal countries, where
the need to use the natural resources for sustainable development is
greatest, and the capability weakest. While accepting the urgency of the
situation, and the need for greater coherence of action at a global
level, the 1997 report of the IPF to the UN Commission emphasized the
powers and responsibilities of national governments, and the importance
of National Forest Programmes, but with the fuller participation of
local communities, and with enhanced access to international assistance.
