There have been several major research efforts on the rate and causes of Indonesia's deforestation in recent years and much associated literature, but there is still no consensus in the research community on these issues. This paper reviews the areas of uncertainty and confusion, and proposes questions that must be answered to get a better grasp of the subject.

CIFOR has been actively engaged in field research in Indonesia focussing particularly on the role of forests and forest products in generating sustainable livelihoods for local users.

As forest scientists widen their field of view and look at problems in a across-sectoral way, and with a sense of history, they start to ask, and aswer, more of the pressing questions. If they adopt an analytical, rather than a descriptive approach, they will make many new discoveries.

This subchapter examines the NWFP trends in the area designated as the Bulungan Research Forest, which has been allocated by the Indonesian government to CIFOR for research purposes. The research forest covers 303 000 hectares in Bulungan district, East Kalimantan, between the Malinau and Bahau rivers, adjacent to the Kayan-Mentarang National Park.

Ce projet financé par le PNUE et mis en oeuvre par le CIFOR s’est intéressé aux forêts tropicales humides d’Afrique occidentale, plus particuliérement au Ghana et au Nigeria, avec des informations complémentaires provenant du Libéria, de Sierra Leone et du Cameroun.

The information available to researchers in today’s world and the technology to access and utilise it is expanding rapidly. Unfortunately, most forestry and forestry research organisations in the Asia-Pacific region neither have access to nor can utilise effectively the vast amount of existing information for decision making.

Technology will help to address the challenges for sustainable forestry in the 21st century.