Introduction

Concerns about tropical deforestation have led to an increased focus on the role of the timber trade in promoting forest depletion and degradation. Recent reports suggest a marked increase in tropical deforestation in the 1980s, with the overall rate doubling from 0.6% in 1980 to 1.2% in 1990 (Dembner 1991). However, the deforestation rate varies across regions, with an estimated annual rate for Latin America of only 0.9% compared with 1.7% for Africa and 1.4% for Asia.

Despite concern over the state of tropical deforestation and its implications for global welfare, several recent studies have indicated that the tropical timber trade is not the major direct cause of the problem – perhaps less than 10% of total deforestation – rather, it is the conversion of forests for agriculture that is much more significant (Amelung and Diehl 1991; Barbier et al. 1994b; Binkley and Vincent 1991; Hyde et al. 1991). Nevertheless, it is clear that current levels of timber extraction in tropical forests – both open and closed – exceed the rate of reforestation (WRI 1992). Less than 1 million hectares, out of an estimated total global area of 828 million hectares of productive tropical forest in 1985, was under sustained yield management for timber production (Poore et al. 1989). Moreover, timber extraction has a major indirect role in promoting tropical deforestation by opening up previously unexploited forest, which then allows other economic uses of the forests such as agricultural conversion to take place (Amelung and Diehl 1991; Barbier et al. 1991).