Forests in sustainable development: a quick report card on progress since RIO

Initiatives that treat forestry as a "sector" seem to be increasingly prone to failure. Forests are resources that other sectors use, in many different and often competing ways, to produce both public and private goods and services. The results of this use can vary widely in their contribution to sustainable development, from forest asset liquidation (land clearance for agriculture and infrastructure), to direct productive uses (plantation and natural forest management), to protective uses (wildlife conservation and water supply).