Making Forest Policy Work

Policy issues relating to forestry have been the subject of much debate, and many countries and international agencies have, or are in the process of, revising their policies for forestry. Much of this debate has implied that previous policies have failed or been much less successful than had been hoped. There is a tendency to think of policy as a matter for governments, but it is now more widely appreciated that all shareholders in the forestry sector have a legitimate interest in both the policy objectives and the means that will be used to implement it. This text is mainly concerned with the process of developing policy and the subsequent implementation, than in specific content, though many of the important issues which policies must address are discussed. It is based on a review of many case studies with which the author has been personally involved over the last 40 years of the 20th century.