Voicing interests and concerns: challenges for forest research

Forest research has to change in response to the increased interest of society in the management of forest land. The president and the vice president of IUFRO, the Assistant Director-General for Forestry in the FAO and the Past Director-General of CIFOR discuss key issues. IUFRO should become a clearing house for forest research and expertise. Research has to recognize that the culture of forestry has become a culture of conflict. More interdisciplinary and policy research should be added to the strong bio-physical sciences in forestry. We need science to exploit the comparative advantages of local and larger-scale forest management and we need science to bridge the gaps between the traditional and modern pools of knowledge and experience