Bad Harvest The Timber Trade and the Degradation of the World's Forests

About this book

The world's forests are disappearing at an alarming rate, and with disastrous consequences. Demand for wood and paper products ranks high amongst the causes of deforestation and forest degradation, and is now the major cause of loss in those forests richest in wildlife. There is a great deal to be done to improve the timber industry before our forests are safely and sustainably managed. Bad Harvest presents an incisive account of the role that the timber trade has played in the loss and degradation of forests around the world. It examines the environmental consequences of the trade on boreal, temporal and tropical regions, and its impacts for local people working and living in the forests. It also looks at the changing nature of the trade, and assesses current national and international initiatives to address the impacts of deforestation. Finally, the authors show how things could be improved in the future, by presenting a new strategy for sustainable forest management. Based on 15 years of extensive research – particularly work carried out by the World Wide Fund for Nature – Bad Harvest is essential reading on the subject; not only for environmentalists, but also for those in the timber trade seeking to improve the management and reputation of their product.

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Biography

Nigel Dudley has worked on forestry issues for over 10 years, with Earth Resources Research, WWF, and Friends of the Earth. Jean-Paul Jeanreaud is head of WWWF International's Forest Programme, and Frances Sullivan is leader of WWWF's 'Forests for Life' campaign.