Although greater attention and resources are now being directed at increasing the sustainability of forests, recent deforestation, especially in the humid tropics, constitutes the fastest land-use change of its scale in human history. In the absence of greatly expanded efforts for better management, many of the world’s forests appear likely to decline at even more rapid rates. This article appraises the forest situation from both a natural and social science standpoint, arguing that deforestation results from a lack of sufficient scientific and economic understanding of forests’ contribution to human welfare, as well as a lack of recognition by policy-makers that deforestation is principally driven by non-forestry factors. The recently established World Commission on Forests and Sustainable Development and the Intergovernmental Panel on Forests constitute institutions that can work to bridge these gaps in understanding and policy.
