The restoration of research

Research per se is a highly heterogeneous activity with a variety of objectives, actors and stakeholders, and a range of mechanisms to enhance collaboration while minimizing cost and unnecessary duplication. There is an urgent need to disseminate the results of research in forms that can be understood by policy-makers, administrators, the media and the public as well as by resource managers and peer scientists. To be effective, research itself needs to be restored. It must be both proactive and reactive to policy and public issues and use modern techniques of information technology and networking. Current human demands on forests for social, environmental and economic benefits require new, interdisciplinary approaches to research and rapid implementation of relevant results by appropriate stakeholders. In this paper, the extents, rates and causes of deforestation are identified together with the criteria and indicators of sustainable forest management that have specific relevance to restoration of site productivity. The changes in forest policies and management objectives over the second half of the 20th century are described and it is recognized that the role of forests as global resources may conflict with national sovereignty.